blank page in a new book…

Have you heard that saying before? That January 1st is the first blank page in a new 365 day book?

At this point in my life, I hope so, I really do.

The weekend before New Year’s we spend a lot of time giving the house a really good cleaning and checking off a lot of our to do’s from our list that we never seem to make the effort to do.

The boys washed the screens all over the house and I cleaned the windows from the inside. BTW, window cleaning tip, equal parts rubbing alcohol and water… done!

We also put together the baby’s crib and shampooed the carpet in the entire house. Next time, we’re ripping out the carpet and putting down wood floors! I’m not even joking!

It felt good and it was our way of washing off the old to begin new.

I got to spend some time with my lil guy just me and him. I treated him to his first Icee, and probably his last. Don’t let this photo fool you, he didn’t like it much.

We took in a beautiful sunset right in our yard while I watered the grass.

We spent New Year’s with our friends and my son was so excited to be going to what he called a firework party.

This was the first year he really got into the fireworks and sparklers, usually he keeps to the pop pops and stays away from anything you light on fire.

Great, I think I have myself a fire bug.

Of course as tradition goes, we had mochi soup at midnight.

YUM!

We had a nice time and I for one am happy to say goodbye to 2012 and look forward to a brighter and different new year in 2013.

I have decided not to make resolutions or a list of goals for this year. We have so much going on and especially with the new baby on the way I don’t want to be tied to a list that I will constantly compare myself to.

Instead the only thing I want to work towards this year is enjoying and loving my family. I will not let myself get pressured to doing certain things by a certain time. I will not pressure myself with the little details. I will let go and let God guide me. My focus is my family and they come first, not making anyone else happy.

Here’s hoping for a better 2013 for my family and all of you!

Holiday Party at the Grand Hyatt Kauai

The past two years we have been very fortunate to have our Company Christmas Party at the Grand Hyatt Kauai. The Hyatt is so pretty, I worked there for over 5 years I think when I first got married. I even worked at Tidepools, the restaurant where we had our dinner. I love their food and I love their staff, they are the bestest!

We had a large party so we had to have a preset menu. I worked with their manager and they were so accommodating, I was so excited to just EAT!!

Please don’t mind the junk phone pix… hope I can still make you drool!

We started with family style pupus (appetizers). I just love fried calamari, my hubs calls it bait, but I call it delish!

We also had the lump crab cake. Ooh this has always been one of my faves and each time they change the menu I’m so glad they don’t change this! Big chunks and lumps of crab meat not too much filler.

This was a new one on the menu and I was excited to try it. Hamachi sashimi with watermelon and topped with jalapenos. YUM-O!!
Hamachi, or yellowtail, is family to Ahi, but it is a higher grade fish for sashimi or sushi. It’s a lighter meat and very mild tasting.

For dinner I chose the Opah. Grilled not gangnam style. It’s a very mild fish also known as the moon fish. Of course the men all ordered the prime rib, which my husband ranks as number one on the island!

We had a gorgeous dessert platter of bread pudding, crème Brule and a chocolate mousse bomb… and yup everything was THE BOMB!

I think everyone had way too much to eat, because after dinner everyone just went back to their rooms to rest. In the morning we woke up to this beautiful view.

Yup, luck I live Kauai. (am I making ya’ll jealous?)

I enjoyed a cup of coffee on the lanai and ate some chocolate covered dried pineapples for breakfast before meeting up with my friend who watched my son for us so we could have a night out. We picked up the lil guy and then came back to the hotel so he could play for a little bit.

THANK YOU MIKI! We totally owe you!

First things, first…. chocolate ice cream shake for the lil man!

Of course then we had to have lunch pool side.

He played in the pool for a little bit.

And before long… he was out cold!

It’s days like this that remind me we live in such a beautiful place and I need to take more time to enjoy it and enjoy my lil man especially since he’ll have to share my attention very soon.

I am blessed to work for a great company and have a wonderful Christmas party and wonderful friends who will take my son for the night so mom and dad can have a date.

I just had to share this especially after my little rant yesterday.

It’s all good!

a new begining

Whew, this past weekend came and went way too fast.

Yesterday,  I felt refreshed and renewed even if I didnt rest one second.

I talked previouslly about the evictions my mom was facing.

The residents held a Mahalo Party on Sunday for the community that stood behind them and supported them.

It was a beautiful day. We told stories about growing up there and how simple life was back then. How happy, safe and secure we all felt.

We had a number of very talented musician's who lived in the camp perform.

Our neighbors, they arent just neighbors, they are our family.

Then, on Monday morning, they went to court.

It's been a long and hard fight. Sunday was fun and emotional all at the same time.

Part of me feels like it's not over yet. Just the hardest part is over.

I am so greatful for the chance to grow up in a place like the camp.

You can't understand how it truly is, unless you've lived it.

I am sad that the children today will never experience life in the camp, dissapointed that my son will not experience the life I had, the life my mom had growing up.

Growing up we had a sense of community, Ohana.

We were respectful to our elders.

We were resourceful.

You didn't hear of idiots putting their children in washing machines on spin cycle!!!

What is this world coming to!?!

a day of rest and rain

If you follow me on twitter you might have seen this picture below.

Saturday night was my husband's neice's first birthday party and if you know how the locals here do it, you know what a big deal a first birthday is.

Prepring potato mac salad

It was a ton of work and there were so many helping hands.

Luckily everything worked out, because we have a major storm on our hands right now.

Before we left for the party my lil guy took a few minutes to rock out.

I sure hope he learns how to play one day.

I'm not at all musical.

 

Anyway, about that storm... it's really bad.

We got home on Saturday night and the tent we had up for the contractor to was building our patio had collapsed from all the rain.

The tent frame crumbled and bent, we're in mourning.

(darn thing cost a pretty penny... 23,000 pennies actually)

We had to spend the day inside and we just had to spend the entire day in our pjs and of course have some hot cocoa to keep warm.

And of course left over party food for breakfast!!

What else is there to do on a stormy day? EAT!

20 minutes away at my mom's house things weren't going as well.

They live in a flood zone and boy did it flood!

Remember I told you about my mom's house?

How about a before & after shot.

Her neighbors came over as well since they got flooded too.

I thought this picture was classic. I told her atleast the flood should help you get rid of those strays that keep hanging out by your house, maybe not....

Today the rain continues and roads and bridges are closed and a portions of the highway has completely collapsed.

Please pray for everyone here on Kauai for more news you can check out Hawaii News Now
or search Koloa Flood on youtube.

Eviction Notice

I grew up in the town of Koloa on the island of Kauai.

I feel very fortunate to be able to have been raised the "old style".

We lived in a Plantation Camp.

Life was simple.

We had no traffic.

We knew EVERYBODY in our town.

(and EVERYBODY knew our parents/grandparents)

We never had to lock our doors.

(pic taken 1/7/12)

Some of us took a bath in outside bathhouses

Going outside to play marbles meant we would go to the cane field up the road and dig marbles out of the ground to play with.

(sugar cane in our front yard pic taken 1/7/12)

Baseball was played with a stick from the mac nut tree and rocks from the road.

The road was (and still isnt) paved. It's a gravel road made out of crushed coral.

(pic 1/7/12)

We rode our bikes and stuck playing cards or our grandpa's old beer cans to the spokes of our bikes to make loud noises.

We played in our neighbors tree houses and knew it best to be home before it got dark or we would get 'lickens'.

Back in November, Grove Farm notified the last of the residents to live in the camp they had 120 days to vacate as they would be demolishing their homes, their lives, all their memories and making room for development and so called 'affordable housing coming from China.
China? Really?

We have a struggling local economy and they want to bring in prefab homes from China?

The first article came and this article followed.
(please do read each article)

The neighborhood has received amazing support from the community even more so proving we are an Ohana.

This past Sunday Lee Cataluna wrote an article in the Honolulu Star Advertiser posted here.
Lee Cataluna's parents lived in this very camp.

This neighborhood is where I lived up untill I got married.
I spent majority of my life there.

I work in the construction industry and so I understand very well the importance of development and new construction. Change is inevitable, I get that.

What I don't get is how they are evicting these people whom majority of the residents are elderly, who have never lived anywhere else in their life, who live on very strict and limited incomes to make way for development.
Money Hungry.

For years the camp has been so called 'shut down' so no new residents could move there.
At any point if someone would move out or pass away (which remember these are mostly elderly people) the house would be demolished and the lot left empty or leased for agriculture reasons. (Most lots are used to raise fighting chickens) Why they cannot continue to do this, I have no idea. But Grove Farm has decided in this tough economy they want to develop.

To read more on the issues surrounding everything please take the time to read this blog post and the website Save Koloa Camp which was created by another lifelong resident and my childhood neighbor Kepa Kruse.

My question to Grove Farm is touched upon in this article written by Lee Cataluna, who's parents as I mentioned were also residents of the camp. And I have to add the photo in the post, that's my grandparents house where my mom lives till today. The window on the far right was my bedroom I shared with my grandmother.

Grove Farm is proposing this new development and offer affordable homes and the residents that they are evicting will be given first chance at those affordable homes.

Published reports put these affordable homes at around $400,000.

I have two points to make regarding this:

1. My husband and I got suckered into purchasing 'affordable housing' 6 years ago at the height of the big real estate boom.

We purchased our home for $420,000 and took out a 30 year mortgage for $400,00 at 5.75% interest.

Our monthly mortgage payment is $2,900.

My husband and I both have very good jobs and it's a struggle to pay our mortgage every month and make ends meet. We tried to refinance our mortgage but we cannot, why?

Because the market has shifted extremely downwards and now our brand new ocean view home is worth only $320,000 on the HIGH side.

So how is it they figure that $400,000 is fair market value of 'affordable housing' pricing?

2. The rent that these residents are paying currently is $600 & $700.

The residents there are my mom's age and older up to in their late 80's.

Do they think at their age and income these residents are going to first of all qualify for a mortgage and secondly how are they going to afford it?

Needless to say, my mom and the other residents of Koloa Camp didnt have a great Thanksgiving or end of the year.

It has been however, very encouraging to see the community come out to show their support. Thankfully my mom does have a plan and a place to move when the time comes.

Until then the residents and community is asking for Grove Farm to find another location for their planned development.

(Grove Farm does only own half the friggen island!!)

Ok, I know its been a long post I hope you've stuck around and read all the way through.

Please do take the time to read all the articles I posted links to and also check out

Save Koloa Camp

Shaved Ice on a HOT day

I cannot belive I live on an island where we are KNOWN for our shaved ice stands and I just realized that my son has never had a shaved ice!

Does that make me a bad mother?

Here he is on Sunday with his very first shaved ice.

He actually turned it down and until we told him it was ice cream he gave it a chance.

First bite down, hmmm he's thinking about it.

Then he dove right in and went to town!

Forget the small wooden spoon just bite it!

ugghhh... brain freeze...

But that didnt stop him, right back in there to finish it up!

And then we hung out in the sun to warm up and watch the kids play in the baseball field.

Where else in the world do you have a shaved ice and sit in the sun at the park on a Sunday afternoon during WINTER TIME!

~ Kipu Kai ~

Kipu Kai is located between Maha'ulepu (South Shore) and Nawiliwili (Central Lihue).

It is privately owned and the land is held in a trust of the late John T. Waterhouse.

When the last of his family (Trustees) pass, the land will be gifted to the State.

Kipu Kai is not accessable to the public. There is a single lane road that leads over the Ha'upu Range and down into Kipu Kai.

(this isnt a great picture taken through the hubs dirty windshield but check out that road! YIKES! you should have seen coming down!)

The beach is like a protective cove between the mountains and is absolutely beautiful. Pictures just do not do it justice!

 

It's a great fishing spot and the hubs was in heaven.

The scenery is absolutely gorgeous and to have the beach to ourselves amazing!

We are truly so greatful to have had the chance to see this amazing place.

And back to reality coming back over the mountain and seeing civilization.

Our day trip to the North Shore *Linky Party*

I'm ashamed to admit that its been almost 3 years since we went down to the North Shore of our island. It feels like a long drive and you have to make a day out of it. Those of you who commute are probably laughing at me right now, but it's about 50 miles.

Since it was a long weekend, we decided to pack a lunch and make the drive.

It was so beautiful, despite the rainy weather.

The Hanalei Taro fields right off the side of the road.

Hanalei Pier is where we stopped for lunch and some play time in the sand.

We walked to the pier and my son tried to find fish. No such luck, you couldnt even see the bottom from all the rain we have been having.

Do you recognize this picture??

Need a hint?

{here}

It was pretty rainy and we couldnt stay on the beach for very long with out a huge down pour coming down on us, but it did make pretty waterfalls.

I had to climb under the pier and get this shot.

I was so bummed that I had forgotten my good camera that day.

After the rain we decided to drive further to the end of the road and check out the sights.

This is one of two wet caves off the side of the road. I've actually been swimming in one of them. Ice cold mountain water! 

This is a pretty little swimming hole just off the side of the road.

Even with the rain it was a gorgeous day!

We had a great time with our little family.

I'm so thankful to have the chance to do this.

What did you guys get to do this holiday weekend?

Link up and tell us what you guys did!