Well, Mike hasn't returned to work yet which has actually been pretty nice (for me... he's going a little stir crazy and is ready to get back). Since he's been home, we've been spending lots of time together! This past Saturday we headed up to Northstar Ski Resort because they have more terrain open than Heavenly. Plus... they have these delicious fish tacos that we LOVE! It was so nice. There were lots of people but with all the terrain open, it didn't feel too crowded. We skiied... we ate... we played with avalanche puppies... it was a great day!
A TINY LITTLE PEAK AT THE LAKE!
NOT A BAD WAY TO SPEND A SATURDAY!
I was too busy enjoying the puppies to take a single picture. Sorry! And no picture of the fish tacos either... they were too delicious!
Sunday, we did a little Christmas shopping for a few people. Still a few things to get.
Well, sorry for the quick update and lack of pictures. Hoping to get better at snapping pics and updating the blog in the new year!!!
With Thanksgiving on Thursday, I've been thinking a lot about how blessed my life is. I really try to do this often (other than just the month of November) but this year in particular, it's been easy to slip into moments of ungratefulness.
Example: Instead of thanking God for the amazing job I've been provided with... a job which I LOVE to do... a job that helps us pay our bills.... a job that allowed us to buy a second home this year.... I catch myself thinking: "why is my job so stressful this year, when it hasn't been this stressful in the past?" Those thoughts snowball into "Is it me?" and "Am I just really bad at this?" In reality I know I'm doing the very best I can every single day. I know I've been put in this job for a reason and I'm grateful for what it's teaching me.
I really and truly have absolutely NOTHING to complain about in my life. I have amazing friends (on both the east and west coasts), I have amazing family who loves us unconditionally, I have my amazing husband and we have our health. We have food on the table and a warm place to sleep at night. Life. Is. Good.
Sure, I sometimes get caught up in "but I DON'T have this or that..." and "If only we had more..." thoughts. But, someone out there is probably praying for exactly the things I DO have. I am also a firm believer that when I show my gratitude to God for all He has provided, He then provides me with more. He's gracious like that.
Speaking of blessings, we've been blessed with a house this year. And because we own it (which naturally means we make large payments to another party who ACTUALLY owns it), we are trying to take care of it by making small improvements here and there. Here's a summary of what we've done so far... in pictures...
HALL CLOSET BEFORE
HALL CLOSET AFTER
THE HANDLE IN THE CARPET HELPS US LIFT THAT
BOARD AND THERE ARE STAIRS DOWN TO THE
BASEMENT UNDERNEATH
WE ADDED LOTS OF STORAGE.
BUT THE BIGGEST THING IS THAT WE ADDED
MOTION DETECTED LIGHTING!
LIGHTS TURN ON WHEN WE ENTER... AND TURN
OFF AUTOMATICALLY 30 SECONDS AFTER WE LEAVE!
IT'S NOT A DARK DUNGEON ANYMORE!
AND WE HAVE A SPECIFIC PLACE FOR THINGS.
NO MORE RUNNING AROUND TO FIND OUR
BACKPACKS AND HELMETS FOR MOUNTAIN
BIKING. WE KNOW EXACTLY WHERE TO FIND
THINGS. YAY FOR ORGANIZATION!
Then we tackled the kitchen. Originally, I wanted to do a HUGE kitchen renovation (like replacing cabinets and counters and everything). But, even though I don't LOVE our cabinets, they are in good shape and they are obviously functional. So, I began looking for ways to do small things that would help me love the kitchen more.
KITCHEN BEFORE
THE SAME MATERIAL COVERING THE COUNTERTOPS
WAS USED AS A BACKSPLASH...
IT WAS RIPPED AND GLUED IN SOME PLACES.
I JUST REALLY DIDN'T LIKE THAT.
OUR CABINET HARDWARE WAS ALSO A STRANGE
DARK CHROME COLOR??? DIDN'T LIKE THAT EITHER.
KITCHEN BEFORE AGAIN...
BEIGE WALLS...
EVERY SINGLE ROOM IN THE HOUSE IS BEIGE
DINING AREA... WITH BEIGE WALLS AND CHANDELIER THAT IS
NOWHERE NEAR THE DINING TABLE.
DURING!
BACKSPLASH IS GONE AND HARDWARE REMOVED
WE CHOSE A GRAY COLOR FOR THE KITCHEN
IT WASN'T A DRASTIC CHANGE BUT I CAN'T EVEN
EXPLAIN HOW MUCH OF A DIFFERENCE IT MADE
FOR ME!
I REALLY LIKE THE KITCHEN SO MUCH MORE!
IT MATCHES THE COUNTERS PRETTY WELL....
WHICH MAKES ME DISLIKE THEM SLIGHTLY LESS.
AND THE HARDWARE GOT SPRAY PAINTED AND
ACTUALLY LOOKS REALLY, REALLY GOOD!
LET'S HOPE IT HOLDS UP OVER TIME!
We also changed out the chandelier in the dining area. You can see the old one in the pictures above. It was too big for the space AND it hung down right in the center of the room. Because it was so big and so low, we've actually had friends come over who have to duck to walk underneath it. Not cool.
So, a while ago I found an idea on pinterest and I've been collecting the materials ever since. I found a cheap "orb" at TJ Maxx a while ago ($9.99) that I've just been holding on to. Then, I checked a local antique store and found one of those old brass fixtures that no one likes anymore. I took the lighting from the brass fixture (tossed the ugly brass and glass thingy)... sprayed it oil rubbed bronze.. and added it to the orb. Ok, I didn't really do it... Mike did. The whole thing cost $25 in materials and the promise of one neck massage was the price I paid for labor! Thanks again babe!
Anyway, TA-DA!!!
SO MUCH BETTER IN MY OPINION
NOTICE HOW WHITE IT LOOKS OUT OUR WINDOWS? YEP... IT'S SNOWING!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE our "new" kitchen. And I love making our house feel more like home. I'm excited to cook Thanksgiving here and host some of our friends.
I have lots of other ideas (sorry Mike). Since this is a blog about being grateful, I wish I could say I am content and don't want to do anything else to the house but I don't think that will EVER be me. I will always find something else to work on. Nothing HAS to get done (fortunately), but there are definitely some ways that we would like to put our touch on this place. We will definitely take our time getting it done.
To all of you:
I wish you the happiest of Thanksgivings. I hope you spend your time with friends and/or family. I hope you stuff your faces with a delicious feast! I hope you recognize all your blessings in life and appreciate where you are in the moment. I'm grateful for you. Happy Thanksgiving!
Pele is the Hawaiian volcano goddess. Although I do not believe in Pele, some Hawaiians still do. It is very insulting if you don't show respect to Pele and the volcano (for example: if you try to roast marshmallows over the lava, or you poke the lava with sticks, or you throw things into the lava to watch it burn, etc). So, if Pele herself doesn't blow you off the side of her volcano, the Hawaiian people may take matters into their own hands if you disrespect their land and their goddess.
On Mike's birthday evening, after dinner, we decided to venture out into the rain to see the glow from Kiluea crater which is visible from the museum inside the park. Within Kiluea crater is Halema'uma'u crater which is where the active lava lake is. It's a bubbling lake of liquid hot magma and is what you may picture in your mind when you think of a volcano. Instead of posting my really poor pictures and videos of the lava lake, you should check out the better resolution shots HERE.
The next morning, as it was still raining, we packed up and headed back into the park. We stopped first at the Thurston lava tube because a) it was raining and we could walk around in the tube without getting wet and b) no one else was there!!!
THE ENTRANCE INTO THURSTON LAVA TUBE
INSIDE THE LAVA TUBE
From there, we drove Chain of Craters road, so named because of the chain of different craters that are visible along the drive.
AT THE END OF CHAIN OF CRATERS ROAD, THE SUN WAS OUT IN TIME TO VIEW THE HOLEI SEA ARCH
I LOVE THE CONTRAST BETWEEN PREVIOUS LAVA FLOWS AND NEW, GREEN FOLIAGE. CHAIN OF CRATERS ROAD IS THE ROAD YOU SEE GOING UP THE MOUNTAIN.
BEAUTIFUL CONTRAST
By then, the weather had cleared a bit and we were ready to start our first hike of the day, a 4 mile trek across Kiluea Iki crater!
FROM THE RIDGELINE, LOOKING DOWN INTO KILUEA IKI CRATER (CLOSEST) AND YOU CAN SEE THE SMOKE FROM THE LAVA LAKE IN HALEMA'UMA'U CRATER IN THE DISTANCE!
ABOUT TO CROSS KILUEA IKI CRATER... THIS LAST ERUPTED IN 1959!
YOU CAN SEE SOME PEOPLE BEHIND ME ON THE TRAIL.
THE HILL YOU SEE IS CALLED PU'U PUA'I AND IS WHERE THE ERUPTION OF 1959 BEGAN. SOME LAVA FOUNTAINS REACHED 1900 FEET! THAT IS 4 TIMES THE HEIGHT OF THE CRATER WALLS! THE ERUPTION LASTED FOR 36 DAYS!
THE LAVA LAKE HAS COOLED AND CRACKS WHILE IT IS "SETTLING"
We left the park midday to meet Pam and Michael in the town of Pahoa, just north of Volcano. We drove to the Kalapana side of the current lava flow to get the best view of it. It's a long walk (about 4 miles each way) along a flat, gravel road. The hike is totally worth it in my opinion. It is one of the most easily accessible lava flows in the world and we were fortunate enough to get to see if flowing all the way into the ocean!
HIKING BACK INTO THE PARK (FROM THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE PARK)
WALKING TOWARD THAT BIG CLOUD OF SMOKE!
LAVA FLOWING INTO THE OCEAN! HOW AMAZING!
SO WE SAT AND WATCHED THIS IN AWE FOR A WHILE UNTIL WE OVERHEARD SOMEONE SAY THAT A SHORT HIKE AWAY YOU COULD SEE LAVA FLOWING THROUGH A HOLE IN THE ROCKS...
NATURALLY WE HAD TO GO CHECK THAT OUT:
LAVA!
Then we headed back down toward the ocean to get a good seat for the show... the lava show:
BEAUTIFUL!
WE WERE WATCHING LAND BEING MADE. TRULY AMAZING!
THERE WERE OCCASIONALLY THESE SMALL EXPLOSIONS OF LAVA! SPECTACULAR!
Our day at Volcanoes was indescribable. When we got back to the car we were HUNGRY and tired. We headed to the closest pizza place and then headed to our humble abode for the night (a rustic cabin within Volcanoes National Park).
The next morning, we PLANNED to go hike to Green Sand Beach but honestly, we were starting to lose steam. Our feet were still tired from the hike the previous night and we were just ready for a relaxing beach day.
So, we made a quick stop at Punalu'u bakery on our way back to Pam's house.
MALASADAS! PORTUGUESE DONUTS! SO DELICIOUS!
Then we headed to Kua Bay for some lounging:
FINALLY A WHITE SAND BEACH DAY
We decided to switch to Pine Trees State Park to take in the sunset:
OUR SUNSET VIEWING SPOT
DRAINING...
FILLING...
FULL!!!
We headed home for dinner followed by HUGE slices of macadamia nut pie for Mike's birthday! Delicious!
The next morning we woke to our last day on the island. Our flight didn't leave until 9 pm so we had ALL day to enjoy one more beach!
We chose to hike to Makalawena:
THE HIKE IN PREVENTS MANY PEOPLE FROM COMING TO THIS BEACH!
THE BEACH STRETCH OF THE HIKE
FLOWERS ON THE BEACH?!?! TOO AWESOME!
THE LAVA STRETCH OF THE HIKE
PERFECTION!
We headed back to Pam's to shower and pack... then went out to dinner at Kona Brewing Company and into downtown Kona for ice cream before heading to the airport.
We were so sad to leave because we had such an amazing time!
Thank you so much Pam and Michael for being wonderful hosts, tour guides, chefs, chauffeurs, and personal photographers! We are truly sooo grateful! Please come back to Tahoe anytime!
Here's a little video compilation from our trip. Enjoy!
