I love this quote. But it kind of sets you up for unrealistic expectations about love. Can love really be this way all the time? Is only REAL love this way or can you have REAL love without the madness and the passion? I like to believe that everyone experiences love like this and is loved like that in return. But in reality some people go their whole lives without ever feeling love like this and I know many people who’ve never felt this way but have been or are “in love”. Love, happiness and passion  all have their own definitions. They mean different things to different people. But, I like the concept of ‘mad, passionate, extraordinary love’ for lots of things in life.

Life is too short not to want to fill it with things that make us happy….extraordinarily happy. I think all too often we settle…sometimes for friends, relationships, work, food, etc….just to get by each day. And sometimes that’s okay to do. We can’t be ‘mad’ and ‘passionate’ about everything in our lives. I mean it would be amazing if we could, but I think more often than not, it’s hard to figure out what we are truly ‘mad’ and ‘passionate’ about. I guess that’s part of life, all the trial and error, to find that out. And if we felt this way about everything in our lives, I’m not sure our hearts or our heads could handle it. Love alone can make people crazy. Besides, if everything in our life was ‘extraordinary’ would we take it for granted and get bored? Continuously search for more? At what point would we know when to stop searching for something more?

I’m trying to figure out what it is in life that I’m truly passionate about. I love a lot of things about my life, but really defining what I’m passionate about is hard.

Definition of PASSION

• the state or capacity of being acted on by external agents or forces
• the emotions as distinguished from reason; intense, driving, or overmastering feeling or conviction; an outbreak of anger
• ardent affection, love. A strong liking or desire for or devotion to some activity, object, or concept; sexual desire; an object of desire or deep interest

Outside of people I’ve been passionate about or moments of passion, I’m trying to figure out what things in my life I’m really devoted to that constantly drive me to go after more. For example, I love yoga, Zumba, reading, writing, cooking,  music, traveling, shopping, gardening, art, doing kind things for other people, my job, and so much more, but not sure I’m really passionate about any one of these things. I guess it depends on the week. Sometimes I”m really absorbed into an activity and then all of a sudden I can go weeks without doing it and not miss it. And I guess that’s okay. Maybe I have a little bit of passion for a lot of things. I know what makes me happy, but I’m having trouble figuring out what I’m truly passionate about. I know people who are extremely passionate about dance and music and volunteering and cooking and the list goes on. I envy them b/c their passion is defined. I love when I see people excited and energized and moved about something. I love when I see people motivated and working hard towards achieving something. It’s that “something” for me that I’m having trouble deciding on. Maybe there doesn’t have to be just one thing we’re passionate about?

I guess what I’m getting at is there are a lot of things that make us content. That are good and good enough. That make us happy, but not extraordinarily happy. That make us love, but not love madly, deeply, passionately. That make us feel, but not to the point where we can’t clearly comprehend or perceive all the emotions running through our body. That we can’t wait to wake up in the morning and do. At what point do we know if we’re crossing the border of sublime mediocrity to extraordinary love and passion?

What are you passionate about?

P.S. Check out Little Miss Everything’s post Be Happy for some great reminders on how to stay happy!

My mom is awesome. She listens. She gives the best advice. She encourages me and never judges me. Everything a best friend does. Last night we had a really great talk about life, love, her and my dad, and a bunch of other stuff. One of the things she reminded me of (and something I really needed to hear) is that sometimes we have to accept when a chapter in our life is over and even more importantly, learn when it’s time to close the book. So. Hard. To. Do.

It’s easy to get stuck on the past, not just on the things and people that were bad but also the things and people that made us happy that are no longer within reach. We have to learn from our experiences and keep moving forward using those lessons to work on the chapters we’re writing now. One. Page. At. A. Time. 

In some aspects, however, revisiting the past can be awesome. Case in point: The Newseum here in DC. I love spending my free afternoons exploring museums. Art museums are my favorite but I’ve been dying to visit the Newseum since it opened a few years ago. “It’s the world’s most interactive museum, where five centuries of news history meets up-t0-the-second technology on America’s Main Street. The Newseum’s galleries and theaters will immerse you in the world’s greatest news stories—the people, the places and the times.” (Had to take that from its visitor’s guide b/c there’s no real other way of explaining it.) This museum was awesome! I took a few pics of some of the exhibits, but it was hard to capture everything. Definitely visit this place if you’re in town. Here are some of things you’ll see:

Pieces of the Berlin Wall. An FBI exhibit that included the Unabomber’s cabin, Patty Hearst’s coat and gun, engine parts and landing gear from the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center, propaganda from the KKK, weapons and documents from gangsters and spies and more.

The Big Screen Theater showcasing some of the greatest stories in history and presidential elections. A Funny Pages exhibit.

Front pages of newspapers spanning the Civil War from the birth of the confederacy to the death of President Lincoln.

A 9/11 Gallery with the remains of a broadcast antenna that sat atop the World Trade Center. This was surrounded by front pages of newspapers from around the world announcing the attacks. It also included a video and exhibit about William Biggart, a journalist who died covering the World Trade Center attacks. This exhibit was really depressing and thoughts about 9/11 still seem surreal.

The News History Gallery was really cool. It had front pages from newspapers and magazines dating back from the 1800s.

My absolute favorite was the Pulitzer Prize Photo Exhibit. When you walk in, this quote below is on the wall.

You realize how much truth there is to that quote when you view all the photos. They were incredibly raw, sad, moving, emotional, and real. This one here below made me cry. Taken by South African photographer Kevin Carter, it shows a child trying to reach a feeding center in Africa. The photographer got so much grief for not picking up the little girl and helping her. He was so haunted by all the killing, corpses, and starving children he saw, that he took his own life. I can’t begin to explain how much this photo broke my heart. Every time I blinked I saw it in front me for the rest of the day. But overall, the Pulitzer Prize Photos was my favorite exhibit. Nothing can capture or break your heart like a photo.

One of things I found very interesting was the exhibit portraying free vs. censored media around the world. It’s amazing to see how much the world’s media is still controlled by their governments.

There was so much more I loved about this museum, especially all the photos of the presidents and great moments in sports history. I just loved this museum. We ended our visit outside on the Pennsylvania Avenue Terrace. It had a great view of the Capitol. I’m not quite sure what was going on with all the Canadian flags here though.

Do you like museums? What type are your favorite to visit?

Have you ever been to this one?

So here I am, back to blogging. I thought I’d be back sooner given in my last post I said my resolution was to blog more often. I guess technically I haven’t broken that resolution. I just got started a little late. The important thing is I’m back, right? I have the day off of work (Happy Birthday MLK!) and am sitting by myself at Panera with a hot chai, semi-listening to the jazz coming out of the speakers in the ceiling, getting lost in my thoughts. For the most part, I’m in ideal writing mode, but when I say I’m lost in my thoughts right now, I mean it literally. I’m lost in them and trying to make sense of them. It’s kind of funny that its moments when I’m not near my computer or don’t have a pen and paper to write with that I have such clarity, great ideas and revelations. And now here I am staring at my computer trying to sort through all that I’m thinking and feeling and make sense of it all. I won’t go in to detail other than to say there’s been a lot going on these past few weeks and life has been a little emotionally draining.

I will say I have been thinking a lot about love. I’m not just talking about romantic love, but love in every sense of the word, especially the love you have for yourself.

I had a conversation with someone whom I love deeply about some past and present situations and experiences, and the topic of self-loathing came up. He said that he suffered from a lot of self-loathing over the years. And it got me thinking about my own relationship with myself. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced true self-loathing. I mean sure I’ve had moments when I haven’t always liked myself, but for superficial reasons. I have regrets. I have things I wish I could change. I have desires in my heart that might never come to fruition. But I don’t hate myself for them.

This conversation made me ask myself a lot of questions, but one especially important one that I never thought about until recently—am I in unconditional love with myself? Do I love myself despite all the wrongs and rights in my life? Do I love myself despite looking in the mirror and wishing I was thinner? Do I love and accept myself from the inside out, despite the imperfections and the moments I’ve acted on pure selfishness?

I think we all have moments of self-hatred (hello, puberty?). But that’s part of being human. It’s part of how we grow. I think it’s okay to hate situations, experiences, maybe sometimes even other people, but not to hate ourselves. I think if we try to learn from our mistakes, go after what it is in life we REALLY want instead of settling,  take chances, do what we can to keep our bodies healthy, love hard, work less, and say what we really think and feel, then those are things that can help us love ourselves despite ourselves.

While I’m busy making sense of all the stuff weighing on my heart and mind, I do feel good about what I’ve been doing to get back on track for my body. I still continue to exercise religiously but for awhile my eating habits went down hill and I have definitely noticed it on and off the scale. I was eating out a lot and eating more sweets than usual. I started the New Year with another resolution, something I called a 4S Rule-Sweets on Saturdays, Sundays and Special occasions only. Yah, that lasted about 8 days. But I’m back to cooking and I also started using My Fitness Pal to track all my food and exercise. I’m finding it a pretty good tool since it counts calories, carbs and fats, rather than points like on Weight Watchers. Plus it’s a free online tool, which is always a plus. I think counting my calories will work better for me and hoping I can stick to food journaling along with the blogging!

Have you ever questioned your love for yourself?

Do you judge others by higher or lower standards than you judge yourself?

When it comes to blogging, I’ve been naughty, not nice. I deserve coal. I’ve been really bad about keeping up with writing. It’s been a mix of a lack of motivation and not a lot of time. And with the holidays here, I’m not even going to pretend I’ll be able to keep up with blogging. So, I’m taking a little break for the rest of the year. But like Arnold said, “I’ll be back.”

New Year’s Resolution: Blog more frequently!

If you’re looking for Christmas gifts, here are some suggestions (by Oren Arnold):

To your enemy, forgiveness.

To an opponent, tolerance.

To a friend, your heart.

To a customer, service.

To all, charity.

To every child, a good example.

To yourself, respect.

Wishing you a happy, healthy, safe and blessed holiday season. Until then, be well!

As much as I love to cook and try new recipes, I’m not really one to watch cooking shows or follow any big name chefs. But, I went to see Guy Fieri at the DC Cooking & Entertaining Show. Groupon had a special for $36 where you got admission to the show and to see Guy Fieri live. Paula Deen and Giada De Laurentiis were also there. Not a bad deal, but I was mostly excited about all the free food samples, which there were rows and rows of!

Paula Deen spoke right before we went in to see Guy. Her recipes scare me…not b/c they don’t sound good, but b/c they are artery clogging. And she annoys me. Seeing Guy was pretty cool. I do occasionally watch Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. The dude totally has ADD though. He was hyper, talking all over the place, starting stories and never finishing them, etc. but it was cool seeing him. He also brought his son with him to help him cook which I thought was fun. They made Macdaddy Mac and Cheese, Stromboli and S’Mores Pizza. I have to say the pizza sounds interesting since it has cayenne pepper and chili powder as ingredients. Intriguing, right?

So, some of the things we tried that I loved and hated:

Organic Watermelon Mint Iced Tea. SO good. I know it sounds like a weird combination, but it really worked. You could taste both flavors but neither was overpowering. Vanilla Bean Salt. I had never seen so many flavored salts, but they all just taste pretty much like salt. So, I don’t get it. Do you use flavored salts?

Sarabeth’s Preserves. I’m not a jelly snob. Good ol’ grape jelly works for me so normally jellies and jams don’t excite me. But, when you see a sign that says “Oprah’s Favorite Jam” it makes you want to taste it. I tried a bunch of flavors like peach apricot, blueberry cherry, raspberry key lime and strawberry rhubarb. OMG…the strawberry rhubarb was awesome. I bought a jar. Right on Oprah! This is now “Neyal’s Favorite Jam”.

Mushrooms in a Box. I did not try these. Interesting concept and they grow in box and I think out of coffee grinds, but I couldn’t get myself to pay $20 for one. Though I did consider getting one for a white elephant game. Organo Gold Coffee. The selling point for this stuff? It’s pure Certified Organic Ganoderma Lucidum. But I wasn’t sold. I don’t even know what ganoderma lucidum spore powder is or why it’s in coffee. Tasted like ordinary coffee to me.

Chilean Olive Oil. It made for a pretty picture but I was not a fan. It was very bitter and had a strong aftertaste. Vegan tapenades. These weren’t bad but nothing that made me excited about taking another bite. But, I can say I tried.

Stiff Willi Chilli. The only thing I liked about this was the name. I’m not sure exactly what it was that I didn’t like. Something about the spices didn’t mix well. Sheep cheese. Tempting, but neither my friend pictured here or me tried it. Have you ever had sheep cheese?

Kerrygold Cheese. These were more intriguing to me than sheep cheese, so I had to try! They had a Dubliner cheese made with Irish Stout, aged cheddar with Irish Whiskey and some blue cheese. These were very good and had unique flavors. Definitely my favorite of all the cheeses we tried. Tiramisu Marscapone. The name was more exciting than the taste.

Dark Chocolate Dreams Peanut Butter. The name speaks for itself. YUM. I had no idea all these flavors existed…White Chocolate Wonderful, Smooth Operator, The Heat is On, the Bees Knees…so much peanut butter fun. And, they sell this stuff at Whole Foods. So glad I was introduced to these. Heini’s Amish Cheese. These cheeses were your basic cheddars, swiss, etc. What I really liked was the bread baskets. Such a cute idea and I had never seen it done before. I’m definitely copying this idea next time I put together a cheese tray.

Edible Flowers. Pretty to look at, ugly on the taste buds. Maybe it was a crunchy texture thing that threw me off. Sweet Potato Butter. I had never heard of this before! I love anything sweet potato so I was super excited to try this. This was really good. Kind of reminded me of pumpkin butter in a way. I would definitely give the blue ribbon to this spread just for it’s tasty uniqueness. Next to the jam, this was the best thing I tried.

Bread pudding. This was actually the first first sample we had. Had lots of rum in it. Can’t go wrong there. Lazy Dog’s Organic Dog Treats. Okay, so I didn’t try these, but you better believe I bought some. I have never seen pizza crust flavored dog treats and my Rileypoo has an obsession with pizza crust, so how perfect of a find was this?! He was very excited when I gave him one, but I think he still prefers Dominos.

After about 3 hours of walking around, tasting, drinking, tasting, tasting, tasting, we left with fully bellies. We definitely ate the most random mix of foods that day, but it was fun trying new things. The grossest thing I tried was Indian chai candy. I love chai, so I thought it would be good. But no, it was quite possibly one of the worst things I’ve ever tasted. I wanted to spit it out so bad but the vendor was trying to sell me on how healthy it was b/c it was made with spices and raw ingredients. She was talking, while all I kept thinking was how it tasted like anise, ass and dirt with a hint of turmeric. Yuck. I guess you never know until you try.

Are you a fan of any big name chefs?

What is your favorite food/drink/spice find?

What’s the grossest food you’ve ever tasted?

Hiking the volcanoes in Hawaii was awesome, but nothing was more beautiful or breathtaking than being at the summit of Mauna Kea. It’s the closest to Heaven you could ever feel without being there. It’s the tallest mountain in the world, rising 32,ooo feet from the ocean floor to the summit. At the top, we were 14,000 feet from sea level. The Hawaiians consider it to be the most sacred place among among all the islands. Because of how high and isolated it is, there’s an observatory at the summit where the Smithsonian and countries from all of over the world have telescopes to take pictures of space. Getting up to the summit takes about 2 hours and you have to stop to acclimate yourself to the elevation as you go up. And of course the higher you go up, the colder it gets.

Here we are at about 9,000 feet. High enough to be above the cloud bank.

We made it to the top right before sunset. Watching the sunset above the clouds was like watching God paint the sky. Absolutely stunning. The only bad part was that it was SOOO cold up there. I had on a t-shirt, long sleeve t-shirt, sweatshirt, and a parka and it was still so cold. But really, the view was worth it.

After watching the sunset, we went back down to about 10,000 feet to stargaze. We got to see the moons around Jupiter, the craters on the moon, the milky way, tons and tons of stars. Looked like God through glitter in the air and it stuck. Almost made me want to be an astronaut! This was definitely one of the highlights of our trip!

In addition to feeling like we could reach out and touch stars, we wanted to be as close to the bottom of the sea as we could (without being certified to scuba dive…something we’re both going to do for our next trip). But, we snorkeled at every beach we could find and swam in 1500 feet of water with wild spinner dolphins. We saw a million different kind of fish, octopus, turtles, and more. A few highlights…

We also booked a tour on a boat that takes you out into the middle of the ocean to swim with dolphins and manta rays. This was an amazing experience, too. It was only us and 2 other people, so a very personal experience. The captain goes out into about 1500 feet of water searching for the dolphin pods swimming around. Once he finds them, you jump right in the water with them. The water was so clear and listening to the dolphins and having them swim around you was unlike anything I’ve ever done before. I’ve swam in confined areas with dolphins before, but there really are no words to describe this experience. The dolphins swim right next to the boat, you below you’ll see the beams of sunshine beaming into the water with dolphins swimming about 200 feet below us, then making their way up toward us and then they swim all around you.

We also got to swim with manta rays. This was pretty cool b/c these things are huge. It’s hard to tell but the one Chris was swimming towards in this picture was 12 ft. wide. Overall, this was dolphin swim was our favorite part of the trip. We can’t wait to go back to Hawaii again just to do this!!

Best. Vacation. Ever.

Where’s the best place you’ve ever gone on vacation or lived?

As promised, I’m sharing some highlights from our trip. Going through 756 pictures has been time consuming, but I’m excited to share some of the best moments with you this week. Today I’m starting with waterfalls and National Volcano Park.

On the way driving to the falls, we found a scenic route off the highway that took us right along the coast. It was absolutely beautiful.

Akaka Park State Falls

When we got to Akaka Falls the first thing you see are the falls in the distance. I couldn’t wait to get up close. There are actually two sets of falls here, each with paved trails you can hike over to. The first set of falls were a little hard to see behind the trees, but there were great views of this waterfall.

Rainbow Falls

Rainbow Falls is another park on the eastern side of the island. It’s called Rainbow falls b/c you can usually see rainbows reflecting off the water. But when we got there, there actually wasn’t a lot of water flowing or any rainbows, but still breathtakingly beautiful.

National Volcano Park

After our morning of exploring the falls, we made it over to the volcano national park. We first stopped by the the ranger’s station, grabbed a map and we were on our way to exploring.

Part of the park was closed b/c of high levels of sulfur dioxide, but there was still plenty to see and lots of areas to hike and drive to. Just being around active volcanoes and seeing their impact on the geological landscape of the island is absolutely amazing. The most recent eruption was actually this past September so we missed it by a couple of weeks.

This pic below shows what it looks like from inside a lava tube, which is where lava once flowed beneath the surface during an eruption.

After the lava tube, we took to some of the trails. It was amazing how windy it was up there and of course we lost one of the maps b/c it blew away and there was no way to run after it.

After hiking around, we made our away over to the eruption viewing area. As night fell, it started to get unbelievably cold, but the view was totally worth freezing for.

Mother Nature is truly amazing. Spending the day at the waterfalls and the volcanoes was one of my favorite parts of the trip. Outside of the wind and the sound of the falls hitting the water, it was quiet and you could just get lost in all the beauty around you. I felt so far away from the hustle and bustle of “the real world”. I can’t wait to go back.

Where’s the most beautiful place you’ve ever been?

Like the little girl in Poltergeist said, “She’s baaaaack.”

I know it’s been awhile since I last wrote. I don’t want you think I got eaten by a shark or swallowed up by lava when I was in Hawaii. After 2 amazing weeks  of exploring, snorkeling, hiking, star-gazing, and relaxing and no time in front of a computer, it took me another 2 to get through all the work and emails that were piling up while I was gone and get back in a routine again. So now that I’m all caught up on that end, I can get back to blogging!

Did I already mention how amazing Hawaii was? Seriously, it was the best vacation I’ve ever been on…like a dream!! It was such a perfect blend of relaxation and adventure and it felt like we had the island to ourselves the entire time, a major benefit of going to an island that’s not heavily populated and during off-peak season. It’ll take me a few blog posts to get through all that we did, so I’m going to start with some of the best (and worst) local foods we ate.

It all started on our flight from Honolulu to the Big Island. We were treated with Passion Orange Guava Nectar. It was very sweet, but as tropical tasting as you can get. I’m not a big fan of juice in general, but I thought it was a nice break from the soda and juices you get offered on regular flights. At least it wasn’t SPAM juice.

I had read about this place called Ultimate Burger on Yelp. I know, I know, who goes to Hawaii just to eat burger and fries? Not something I would typically pick to eat on a tropical island, but I was interested in this place b/c all of its food comes from local farms and is organic, not something you typically find at burger joints. All of their food is made from scratch daily and very fresh. The beef is from local farms from cows that are 100% grass fed, free range, and not given antibiotics and hormones. I’m very picky about meat, so this place just sounded good. And OMG was it! We both got cheeseburgers and split an order of fries with aioli sauce. Not only was the food good, but you didn’t have that “I just ate a greasy brick” feeling in your stomach after eating it.

Next we ate SPAM….okay, not really. I’ve never had SPAM and it does not appeal to me whatsoever. I’m already picky about meat as I mentioned, so meat in a can (is it even meat??), yah no thanks. But the Hawaiians love it. It was on the menu at most places we went to and you could find plenty of SPAM products!

Let’s talk soft shell crab for a sec. I’ve had it in sushi before but never plain. I can’t say this was something that really appealed to me. I was a little creeped out by seeing their legs (I’m the same way with calamari). But, I tried it. Not horrible, but not something I would choose to eat again. They were crunchy and chewy at the same time if that makes sense.

One of the favorite places we ate at was a local diner called Big Island Grill. This place was pretty cheap (in comparison to other restaurants in Hawaii) and the portions were huge. I got a salad with their fresh fish of the day which was moon fish. See the purple thing on the left of my plate? That’s their version of a sweet potato. It tasted just like one, but it was weird eating something that color. Chris got a local dish with roasted pork with cabbage and Hawaiian salt, beef teriyaki and garlic mashed potatoes. Both of these dishes were good.

But what was AMAZING was their Hawaiian Mud Pie. Seriously it was the best (and most humongous) dessert I’ve ever had in my life. It was made of a chocolate, macadamia nut, Oreo cookie crust with Kona coffee ice cream, chocolate chips and macadamia nuts coffered with hot fudge and whipped cream and drizzled with mango. Seriously, this was worth every single calorie, though together Chris and I couldn’t even finish one piece. It was so yummy trying though. This was by far my favorite thing I ate on the island.

Since I’m starting to drool just looking at those pics again, let me jump to a local dish I was not a fan of but something I was told everyone who goes to Hawaii has to try: A laulau with a side poi and rice

Okay, so what is poi and what is a laulau? Let’s start with the purple bowl of creamy stuff  in the top left corner—the poi. This is a main staple starch in the Polynesian diet made from the taro root. It’s really hard to explain what this tasted like, almost like plain yogurt and sour cream had a baby without all the tartness. Can’t say I’ll be disappointed if I never eat this again. The little white cup in the top middle was frozen coconut, which was good. It’s like an after dinner palate cleanser. The big green thing is the laulau. This is a really traditional, time and labor intensive food. A luau leaf is stuffed with pork and fish and then wrapped again in ti leaves, then put in an underground oven. Then, hot rocks are placed on them and they are covered in banana leaves and buried again and not ready for a few hours. While I appreciate all the work that goes into making it, I can’t say I was a fan, which is surprising b/c I do like fish and pork. The leaves just seemed a little bitter for my taste and the meat inside this one was salmon and pork (with yet an extra side of pork) and somehow the flavors didn’t seem to mix together well for me. It was also served with rice, onions in vinegar and lomi salmon salsa. I’m glad we tried this since it was a traditional dish, but not something I would pick to eat again.

What I would eat again are some of the following, which were amazingly fresh and unique:

Grilled tuna burger on a coconut roll with shredded beets, lettuce and wasabi mayo.

Really, really, really fresh sushi, mango rolls and sesame tempura shrimp.

Tempura battered fried ice cream. Good, but didn’t come close to the mud pie.

Traditional luau food. Coconut rolls, potatoes, poke (fresh raw fish with seaweed and spices), mahi mahi, kalua pork (fresh from the pig), veggies and teriyaki beef.

Mai tais! Apparently this drink was invented at a bar and restaurant called Don the Beachcomber in Kona, Hi. So, we were lucky enough to try it where it was invented. Dee-lish.

Mango margaritas.

Sweet potato fries with fresh parmesan and fish tacos.

And Chris’s favorite thing he ate in Hawaii are these sandwiches below. We found this little hole in the wall deli in Hawi on the northern part of the island called Lighthouse Deli. Their sandwiches were huge, but SO good. Chris got a Cuban and I got a pork with sautéed onions and cheddar. There was a ridiculous amount of meat on these and the flavors were very robust. They also had a fridge full of unique sodas. I tried a blood orange soda and Chris tried a 100% natural cola. This place was definitely a great find. Dee-lish!

We ate well in Hawaii as you can see. But, we also had our fair share of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, fruit, cereal and bagels. Eating in HI is definitely expensive so we went to the grocery store and bought stuff for breakfast and lunches. We save A LOT of money doing that. Luckily the hotel room had a mini-fridge. So now that you saw some of the unique foods, I’ll be back soon to talk about the unique experiences: hiking active volcanoes, swimming in the ocean with wild dolphins, star-gazing at 14,000 feet and more. Aloha!

Have you ever tried SPAM? Poi? A Laulau?

If you’ve been to Hawaii, what are some of the unique things you ate there?

Have you tried traditional dishes in other states or countries?

What are you dressing up as for Halloween?

This week and last have been a little odd. It’s almost October and we have strawberries growing again, flowers sprouting in our front yard out of nowhere, and I accidentally got dog poop on my hand and sat in bird poop within an hour of each other (yah, it was a crappy day…haha). I’m also starting to feel at one with Mother Nature b/c of all the random things I’ve come across recently.

Exhibit A: Trying to get to the parking lot at work but having to wait 4 minutes for these geese to cross the street. I was already late and tried beeping the horn but they took their sweet time.

Exhibit B: The creepy, huge praying mantis I almost put my hand on as I was trying to open the glass door to the parking garage. Ginormous.

Exhibit C: Huge ass mushrooms. Like big enough that if Smurfs were real they could make houses of. Don’t you agree?

Exhibit D: Going to throw something away and having this giant bug staring at me. Not sure what it was but it had no problem smiling for the camera.

Exhibit E: These dead flies that are stuck to the green onions in my garden. So weird and I don’t know what the deal is. On the left there, there were 2 flies stuck together, dead. Maybe the fly version or Romeo and Juliet? I don’t know. But then the tops of a few other onions have dead flies on them, too. Gross.

Exhibit F: Opossum in my back yard. These things are not cute. They look like overgrown rats with their beady eyes and long tails. I’m glad it posed for the camera.

I can’t wait to see all the nature I’m going to experience next week in Hawaii. I was there when I was 7 and I remember the cockroaches were huge and the mosquitoes were even bigger. I also remember hitting a big fish with my foot as I was swimming and swimming in the ocean while it was pouring and seeing a rainbow after. Funny how that’s the stuff I remember as a kid. I’ll be taking lots of pictures when we’re there so you’ll hear all about my trip and see all the glorious nature when I get back. But I’m sure none of my pics will rival this one of me with my brothers in Hawaii below. It’s my favorite picture ever!

Before we head to Hawaii we’re going to my cousin’s wedding. She and her high school sweetheart are getting married. I’m happy for them of course, but it got me wondering about the whole marrying the first and only person you’ve ever loved thing. I mean in theory it’s beautiful and sweet and romantic. But at the same time back when I was in high school, I thought I was “in love” but what do you really know about love at that age? Can you really grow as a person if you’re always growing with the same person through such critical years in your life when you’re supposed to be adventurous and exploring the world and exploring life? Do you become dependent on that person to define you? What do you really know about love until you have new experiences, have your heart broken, break someone else’s heart, kiss different lips, or feel different arms around you? I mean, isn’t part of the fun to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince? Maybe for some people marrying their high school sweetheart works. Deep down I’m a hopeless romantic so I like to believe it does. But it also makes me wonder if you’d ever go through life wondering what else was out there?

What do you think about marrying your high school sweetheart?

Have you had any strange nature encounters lately?

Even though it’s the end of summer, that doesn’t mean I have to give up eating like it is. I still have a few stragglers in the garden such as tomatoes and herbs and oddly enough strawberries are starting to bloom again. I decided to go Greek this weekend and made a Greek Salad with Lemon-Dill Grilled Chicken and the most amazing layered Greek dip you’ll ever have in your life. You. Must. Try. But first the salad. It’s super easy to make and full of flavor, protein fiber and veggies.

Greek Salad with Lemon-Dill Grilled Chicken

Now for the most amazing Layered Greek Dip ever. I think you’ll even be inspired to put on a toga while making it and feel like a Greek God when eating it. Seriously, it’s that good. I made it for a party I went to and it was gone in less than 15 minutes.

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 cups prepared hummus
• 1 cup chopped cucumber
• 1 cup chopped tomato
• 1/2 cup chopped pitted kalamata olives
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1/3 cup sliced green onion
• pita chips or multigrain tortilla chips

In mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, lemon juice, Italian seasoning, and garlic with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth and combined. Spread cream cheese mixture into a deep 9-inch pie plate or shallow serving dish.

Evenly spread hummus on cream cheese layer.

Top with cucumber, tomato, olives, feta cheese, and green onions.

Cover and refrigerate 2 to 24 hours.

I threw on a bit of extra feta (because really can you ever have too much?), tomatoes and cucumbers and it turned out even more awesome. Just serve it with pita or tortilla chips. It’s so easy to make and definitely a people-pleaser.

So even though I’ve been in a Greek food mood, I’m trying to get pumped up about the idea of eating Spam. Okay, not really Spam—more along the lines of eating fresh pineapple, fish, macadamia nuts and Kona coffee. This day next week, I will be in Hawaii!!! It seems really weird to say that and I’m not sure it’s even hit me yet that we’re actually going. We just really needed a vacation and our anniversary is next week, so Hawaii, why not?! We have so much fun stuff planned: hiking in National Volcano Park, stargazing at 14,000 feet atop an inactive volcano on the Mauna Kea Summit Observatory which has one of the largest refracting telescopes in the world, snorkeling and swimming with wild dolphins. Can you tell we’re ready?!

Have you been to Hawaii before? Any recommendations for things to do on the Big Island?

Where’d you go on vacation this year or do you have any fun trips planned?

P.S. Make that Greek Dip!!