Sustainable Beginnings...

HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT!

I started a garden.

This news is HUGE! If you know me AT ALL, you know I am not the “gardener” type.

I grew up shadowing two beautiful women, my mother and grandmother. I shadowed them and embraced everything they stood for, except gardening. They both had/have flourishing gardens, have flown to other countries to visit flourishing gardens and know every singe name of every single flower/plant out there. A great afternoon to them is getting their hands in the dirt. This has never been me. I actually swore off gardening when I was a testy pre-teen. “I will NEVER EVER have a garden or buy a flower of ANY kind!” Now, I’m 25 and I’m going to humbly take back those words, re-open my memory bank and try to recall everything they spoke of when chatting about their gardens. They always said, “One day, Hannah. One day!” The day has come and I am so excited to get my hands in the dirt and make a garden, Vegetable Garden to be exact.

One of my New Years Resolutions is to be more “sustainable” in the year 2013. It’s so vogue right now! Everyone, everywhere is trying to be environmentally conscious and sustainable. I'm going to join in with the crowd on this one. When we moved into our little bungalo-style home. Our garden was full of grass/weeds/vegetables I will never use. So I decided to start fresh and pull everything out, except for the beautiful papaya tree. I LOVE papayas and I'm going to baby that tree until it makes me some tasty ones. And I left an amazing rosemary bush that I've been getting rosemary off of almost every night to cook.

Here's what my garden looks like now--- It's tiny & barren :(

My tiny garden plot...

This will SOON change! I have starts of different flowers and veggies (see pic below) and I've planted butter lettuce, Tomato plants, Basil, Cilantro, Cucumber, Peppers AND lavender. I'm really excited to see my little buds pop up and even more excited to have a garden I can eat out of!

Starts of something yummy :)

I'll keep you posted on my adventures with this garden and my all around excitement going green this upcoming year!

Do you have a garden? Tell me about it! Let's connect!

XO ~ Hannah

80 degrees in October??

Oh October, how you have flown by, you bring warmth and sunshine to us!
It’s my second year here in Maui, experiencing the tropical heat and perfect weather all the way into October! Growing up in Oregon, the LAST thing you experience in October is 80 degree weather & the possibility to sport a bikini this close to Halloween!
I am embracing it though. It’s an environment that is always comfortable, always beautiful and always flourishing with color. When we first moved here I thought I’d be sad to not have the seasons... Honestly, haven’t been sad about it yet!

My in-laws came and visited us for a little over a week. They got away from the dreary Oregon drizzle and joined us in the tropics for a little sunshine pick-me-up.
It was FABULOUS! So many women out there have in-laws they’d rather spend time apart from, not with. I have been blessed. We laughed, snorkeled, relaxed, played cards, drove around and chatted from the moment they landed to the time we said “see you later” at the airport. Such fun once-in-a-lifetime memories! Here's some pics of our wonderful vacation.

Dave, Tom(Dad), Me, Sherry(Mom)

Father + Son

So it’s late here! I have to get some shut-eye! I’ll chat with you tomorrow about an amazing new thing I’m trying... Stay tuned!

Lazy Saturdays... Ya right!

As much as I sometimes want and dream of those lazy Saturdays spent at home, enjoying my family and doing fun things. I realize with the goals I have and the entrepreneurial lifestyle I've chosen to live, it's not something I can really expect in these next few months/years. But I also know, that all of my hard work in these early years will totally pay off later. That's a very exciting thought to me!

This morning I was awaken by my alarm clock at 6am!!!! ON A SATURDAY!!?? Yes. I popped out of bed, got ready and headed into town to meet up with a study group from my Hawaiian Studies class. It was a take-home exam... My favorite kind of test! We found a cute little coffee place, Wailuku Coffee Company - Their motto : Where the Hip come to Sip. LOVE IT :) So laptop and coffee in hand I spent half my day studying.

 

[caption id="attachment_141" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Doesn't coffee art make a coffee taste better??[/caption]

On the way home I stopped by Whole Foods to get a couple essentials...



Voskos Greek Yogurt is amazing!! I used to buy the sweetened stuff, but now I buy the nonfat plain & save 1/2 the calories and with a whopping 24 grams of protein per serving, it satisfies my sweet tooth and keeps me full and satisfied! The KEY to enjoying this amazing stuff is a drizzle of honey and sliced strawberries. SO YUM!

This Organic 365 Coffee Creamer is delish! I'm always trying different kinds of NATURAL creamers... The artificial ones are SO bad for you and leave a gross aftertaste...  This one tastes good, a little goes a long way and it comes in Vanilla (as shown), Hazelnut and Plain.

Also today, I started my {Live Abundantly} Bible study. LOVE it! Life may be busy, crazy and full of STUFF, but I feel centered and at peace when I spend time in the Word. I get refreshed and remember my roots, where I come from and who I am.            I. Am. Blessed.

 

 

Sunday Afternoons & Bye to Family

Hi you!!

SUNDAY was amazing {as usual}. We had a great beach day, full of laughs, volleyball, BBQ'ing, waves and FUN! Seriously, you should have TOTALLY been there ;)

The view from my chair!

So, of course the sun was bright, but beautiful clouds were surrounding us making the sunset AMAZING (pics below). This is at Po'olenalena beach in South Maui. Unfortunately, Sunday was also the last night my brother and his GF were on the island with us. It was bittersweet. We LOVE being on this island, just the two of us. But there is NOTHING as amazing as family! My family is my center. They are what I always think about, who I love above anything and their company is the BEST! Luckily I have my BEST friend here with me, can't beat those sunset kisses!

Sunset Smooooooches <3

BREATH deep this week, people! It's going to be a Beautiful one!

xoxo

-Hannah

Waves of Time

Such an uneventful Sunday morning spent in bed, with my coffee cup in hand, my hubby and the pups fast asleep beside me. These morning are the BEST! When you can just sit and soak in the good vibes. Sun shining into the pasture is what I can see from my big bedroom windows. I can also look out and see the Ocean, which is BY FAR my favorite view. The ocean is where I belong. Ever since I was a little girl, being at the ocean was such a healing place. Peaceful yet so majestic and mysterious, there really is no place I've ever been that gives me the amazing feeling I get when I feel like time stands still and my feet are placed on the edge where the water meets the sand. It really is MY place! I feel the Lord in the power of the waves and the gentleness of the tide.

This could be THE reason I love living where I do. I can get to the ocean in 5 minutes flat! Whether I just want to stare at the waves, climb in and let the salt water soak into my skin or close my eyes and sit on the edge and breath in the fresh air, and let it revive me. To me, being by the ocean is best place to BE.

The last few weeks I've been struggling with finding TIME! Sitting in the Dr's office and waiting for your name to be called can be the slowest movement of time, while dinner with friends seems so fast! You sit, you chat and all of the sudden you're walking back to your car checking your watch wondering how it flew by so fast?!

As an adult it just seems like there aren't enough hours in the day to get the to-do list completed AND do the "fun" things. So, with all of this being said, I am really learning how to manage my time. I want to Enjoy this amazing life I have, but I also need to be faithful with all of the responsibilities in my life. I'm learning to just breath in and out and let life take it's course. There are SO many things to do and so many things I've already done. My life is Blessed and I just want to soak in the Goodness of each day, not stressing myself out because I HAVE TO GET STUFF DONE!!

As I stared at the ocean this morning, it reminded me of this time thing and the constant battle I have with it. It was just a reminder to take Time, live Life and make sure to keep the Balance between the hours rolling by and the moments of amazing-ness when time stands still and my feet are placed on the edge where the water meets the sand.







How do you manage time? Do you have a special place you FEEL is YOUR place?



xoxo

-Hannah

Blogging hiatus... September 1/2 way gone??

 Good Evening ALL!

So as you can see... :/ I've been on a little "dry spell" with my blogging. I'm definitely a work in progress!! Blogging doesn't take that much time, it's super easy and I love doing it, so why is it on the back burner?

Again, I'll try not to bore you with the excuses, "I've been too busy!" Because I haven't, "My life is boring!" Because it isn't, "I just got back from vacation!" Nope.  There are NO excuses, just haven't made time for this amazing blog. But, I'm BACK!

I honestly CANNOT believe it's already mid-September. Only three more months and our classes will be over and we'll be headed to Oregon to visit for the holiday season. Where does this time go? If you have a trick to slowing life down, please share :)

My brother and his gf have been here visiting for the last 10 days. We had a blast the first week they arrived. We got to do all of those tourist-y things we miss out on since we LIVE here on Maui. So we showed my family around the island. Drove them to some of our favorite beaches and restaurants. It has been fab. Working from home is the BEST thing ever!! There is NO way we could have just taken a week off, with no notice and spent days with my family if we worked at a "typical" 8-5 job! Feeling very blessed :) This second week, they've been on their own doing the "romantic island getaway" thing. Dave and I went back to real life... School, work, taking care of the property and enjoying each other. Tomorrow (Sunday) we are all meeting up again for their last night on this oh-so-Fabulous island. BBQ'ing, beach activities, volleyball, skim boarding, boogie boarding, laughing and enjoying their last hoo-rah here!

I'll post pic's next time!! See ya'll later!

xoxo

-Hannah

Roadtrippin' with my mom :)

Amazing week and a half! My mom and 13 year old brother were visiting us here in Maui. My mom stayed for a week and my brother will continue his trip here for a MONTH! Lucky teen ;) My mom and I talked, hiked, shopped, ate, enjoying each others company the WHOLE time. When you live 2,560 miles across the Pacific ocean from your momma, vacations are definitely necessary! Luckily we’ve set up our trips for the whole year, so we always have something to look forward to.

This trip to Maui, my mom wanted to explore more of the outdoors, so we did. We visited beaches, we went on lots of hikes and roadtrips... Here are a few pics of our trip to Hana.
(in the new formatting of this blog, you will need to click on the blank picture to see the beautiful image.)



Banyon Tree in the middle of our hike on the Pipiwai trail.



Seven Sacred Pools
Beautiful Waterfall!



A famous “roadtrip” visited by thousands of Maui tourists each day. It’s breathtaking views of waterfalls, cliffs, tropical plants and trees and of course the BEAUTIFUL Pacific. The views, food and beaches we visited while she was here were wonderful, but the BEST part of the whole trip is when we are just sitting and talking. There is nothing better than having a good conversation with my mom that goes on for hours! It doesn’t matter where we are, we can ALWAYS chat. I absolutely love that about our relationship. She’s not only my mom, but my best friend. She is so wise, encouraging and caring. I have always adored my mom, but it’s not until I have become an adult and a wife that I see the amazing woman she really is. I am VERY blessed to have such a wonderful role model and mentor in my life. Thanks MOM!