Trampoline Backflip

This year's trampoline backflip! Done back in August when I was about 3 months preggo. :)

Am I embarrassed that I was making dumb commentary to myself as well as awkward faces? Yes.

Camping!

Brian and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary back in April. It was fun to reflect on the year and exchange gifts of paper per the traditional theme gift list. My gift to Brian was a camping permit for the Malaekahana State Campground in Laie, which is close to the North Shore. I hadn't been camping since I was a kid, so it was fantastic to get outdoors, set-up the tent, and just forget about the hustle and bustle of our regular lives.

schlepping our stuff

Turkey modeling with our brand new tent!

hammock. yes!

the whole enchilada!

The cool thing about camping in Hawaii is that you can be by the beach! It was amazing to be able to fall asleep to the crashing waves. Plus, the dogs got to play in the sand. :)

This is most likely the best face Storm has ever made.

It was a great time and I hope we go again!

Luau

So, when you think 'Hawaii,' you think Luau, right? Yeah, me too. So before moving here Brian and I registered on our Honeyfund for tickets to a Luau. The Southworth fam hooked us up, so after getting settled in after a few months of living here, we finally signed up for the Chief's Luau at Sea Life Park.

Overall, I'm glad we did it to have the experience, but if I'm being honest, it wasn't as great as I thought it would be. The entire evening was highly touristified. That wasn't a problem in and of itself, but when you're processing a hundred or two people through your system, the authenticity/quality drops dramatically. For instance, they did show us the traditional method of roasting the pig in the ground, but what we ending up actually eating was just cafeteria style food.

If any of you know me, you know I'm a food enthusiast. So this was probably the biggest let down because I was envisioning eating the best pork of my life, but instead all I got was this ghost butter cup. (That was just funny.)

Craft time before all the action started was a highlight. Brian and I made our own head pieces. :)

When the sun went down that's when things got really exciting. The show performances with traditional dances being demonstrated were quite interesting and they did a good job bringing a lot of humor to the show. For the grand finale, the fire dancers/twirlers were quite spectacular. Great evening overall, just be warned that if you ever want to attend one, it might not be as you were picturing.

File Pile Riddance

Hey Bloggerverse, I'm back! Reeeeeally got off track with this stuff, but Tory reminded me that there are only a few weeks left until the 1001 days are complete! Time to catch up!...

Here's a boring one to get out of the way. Number 79, stay on top of filing. This was something I was genuinely terrible at. Such a simple task of taking a bill, statement, or whatever, and placing it right away in it's appropriate folder was something I just couldn't handle apparently. I would always just create a pile of papers on top of my filing boxes. Eventually, the papers would pile up to the point of falling off then I would begrudgingly file the pile for about an hour. Ridiculous. But file piles are no more! Turns out it's so much easier to just file right away! This goal was a real toughy because it was a habit breaker, but I'm proud to say I'm a changed woman! :)

Current status of file tower...pile free!

South Mountain Hike with Mom

On my last trip home I got to cross #81 off of the list- hike South Mountain with Mom. We'd been talking about doing it for quite awhile so I was excited that that it was finally happening! Despite having lived in Phoenix for 18 years, I had never been!

(Mom, hates when I take secret pictures of her :)

It was a bright one! You can see Camelback behind us on the right.

Playing with the Panorama

Camelback money shot

Mom the Adventurer money shot :)

As the grand finale to our outing, we stopped for lunch at The Farm on the way home. 

Fresh, locally grown sandwiches and salads. It was delish!

Chain Painting

Gosh, I'm terrible at staying on top of blogging. Good news is that in the long gaps in between posts, I get a lot of goals done! :)  This particular project went (embarrassingly) unfinished for YEARS. I wish that was an exaggeration, but I literally started it in May of 2008 and just finished it on January 24, 2013. And to be honest, I really could/should work on it more, but I'm peace with it for now. The thing that finally got me to pick up a brush was because my mother hung it on the wall! You can't hang a painting that's only 87% done! (Yep, I did precise calculations on that. ;) I just hated that people were seeing it unfinished, so on my last trip home I packed my paints!

The ironic thing about the painting, is that I was trying to finish it fast. I even set up a camera to take time lapse shots of it as I progressed. Here are the shots in a little movie format:

A little bit about the painting: When I was at school in Savannah, GA, I took a picture of this chain which is on a swing on Tybee beach. At the time I was in this little book club that was reading "The Artists's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity" by Julia Cameron. It's was a pretty inspiring book, and one of the exercises that I enjoyed was the challenge of doing something to get out of your routine. One morning I woke up to use the restroom at like 4AM. Instead of falling back into bed like any sane college student would do, I grabbed my camera, jumped in my car, and headed to the beach to catch the sunrise! It was an exhilarating experience, so I painting this image to remind me of that.

698 days down, so 303 to go!

I was randomly feeling a sense of time running out on this project this past week, and realized that I didn't even know what my 1001st day was! So today I crunched the numbers and figured out that November 14th will be my last day. That's more time than I thought I had, so I'm encouraged to keep on trucking through these ol' goals o' mine!

MARATHON!!!!!

selfie right after the finish line

I did it! I really did it!! Surprisingly, I'm not sure how glad I am that I did it though. That "race" takes such a toll on your body! My hips will probably never be the same, haha. Before the race, I always would think, how hard could it really be? The answer is HARD! What I was surprised by was that it wasn't my lungs or muscles that were really struggling or even a lack of energy (mainly, because I was popping a lot of energy chews and beans :), but it was the fatigue of the joints which is what slowed me down the most. Maybe I didn't train enough? Here is the training chart I used. You'll see in the middle I had to cut back some because I had injured my IT Band.

Now, let me tell you the good parts about the experience...

The race started at 5AM so it was still dark enough for fireworks!

and I got to catch a beautiful sunrise

there was a lot of good people watching and a lot of neon!

and Brian, bless his big heart, went the last 4 miles with me! He took this pic:

What a guy!

a couple of the pro pics: struggling and pretending not to struggle, ha!

and finally a finish shot...

I think my official finish time was 5:52.51. Not great, but hey, I got my medal. :]

thai cooking

I have to say, I'm enjoying the cooking aspect of domestic life more than I thought I would. I've been surprising myself with the types of dishes I am able to make that I previously only thought I could get at restaurants, for instance, beef pho or chicken tikka masala. The latest ethnic concoctions I have tried to prepare are Thai dishes. As you may remember, I started out by making red chicken curry, which I posted about a couple months ago. Since then, I have made two more Thai meals, pad thai and hot and sour soup, to round out goal #66 which was to cook three dishes in total.

Here's the pad thai. (I got a little crazy with the cilantro!)

Pad thai turned out to be my favorite to prepare of the three. It's a fantastic recipe! Here's where I started from: http://browniesfordinner.com/2010/05/11/easy-pad-thai/  Rice noodles, the main ingredient, were fun and easy, because I found out that they just cook in hot tap water. No need to boil! Nice! I made it vegetarian style the first time and Brian, the carnivore, didn't even really seem to mind.

Lastly, I gave thai hot and sour soup a try. It's funny, I used to not even really like soups up until about 3 years ago. So weird. Anyway, I've done a 180 and now I seem to crave soup all of the time! Here's the recipe I roughly used: http://thaifood.about.com/od/thaisnacks/r/hotandsoursoup.htm. This one was fun because I got to use bok choy for the first time. Look at it just draping itself so beautifully over the edge of the ladle. :]

If you come to visit, there's a good chance you might get served (at least!) one of these three.

steve jobs book

Jenny, my rad sister in law (remember, the one who introduced me to this awesome goals challenge!), gave me the Steve Jobs biography for Christmas (technically, Thanksgiving ;) last year. I was excited because I'd heard good reviews about it and I've always admired Apple design. 

What a fascinating guy! I felt like I already knew so much about him, but the book is so thorough that I found out so much more. Obviously, as a product designer, I enjoyed reading about the details of Apple's product development process. What surprised me, however, was how interested I was in his interpersonal relationships. You probably already know that he could be a ruthless jerk, but he could also be incredibly sensitive. The author, Walter Isaacson, doesn't sugarcoat any of it, so that honesty made the stories so compelling. To quote Jobs, I think it's "insanely great" that he didn't have Isaacson edit out some of the stuff that makes him look bad. As a result, the book is such a complete picture (at least it seems) of the crazy life of such a passionate genius who truly did put a "dent in the universe." I definitely recommend reading it.

The marks one of the books off of my list for goal #46

I painted an elephant

Gracious Tory, as she's lovingly known around here, had hinted at being interested in having a painting of an elephant a long time ago. So much time had passed since her first request that I had completely forgotten that she had even asked until she reminded me a year(?) ago. Well, for whatever reason, I got inspired a little bit before her birthday, and decided to finally bang it out! (Goal #51- Do a painting right away next time inspiration strikes)

This was the first time I have ever started and completed a painting in one single day. I didn't know I had it in me! :]  Probably because it was only gray scale, but, still, I need to do more of this.

In other elephant related news, check this out! I want to see it! Tor, you in?! :]

geocaching event

If you didn't think it was official before, it certainly is now...I am a bonafide geocaching geek. This was confirmed last Wednesday evening when Brian and I went down to Waikiki for a geocachers "event cache" (Goal #96). It was deemed a Cookie Flash Mob. IowaBeaver hosted (you can't make this stuff up) and passed out Hawaiian cookies to everyone who attended. I was surprised at the turnout, probably about 25 folks showed up.

We met a few people...a couple visiting from Texas, a retired man who happened to live just a couple blocks away from me in Memphis, and (drum roll)... GeoGerms! This is the guy I was telling you about in my last geocache post. He was the first person to find the cache I hid and has found every single cache on the island! It was cute, he was definitely a little celebrity in this circle. He was telling me about how he started watching Breaking Bad after finding my cache, but before he could finish he got pulled away to meet some of his "fans." Haha. I love geocachers.

GeoGerms and his wife are in matching blue shirts, RutRut, the retiree from Memphis, is in the black socks, and IowaBeaver is the bald guy at the back left. :]

table is glued!

This has to be THE most procrastinated goal on my list- #23 Glue table together. This task of doing the final gluing on a table that I made in a furniture design class at SCAD was 7 years in the making. Let me repeat, I avoided doing this simple project for 7 whole years! Once I had everything I needed (just wood glue and a securing mechanism) it took an entire 5 minutes to complete. For how easy it was, it seems so silly that I put it off now that it's over with.

The impetus for finally getting 'er done was the idea that I could use a ratchet strap to secure the pieces tightly together when the glue was drying. Up until this point I thought I had to get my hands on some clamps. However, even if I got clamps I was worried about using them for fear I would damage the diagonal corners on which all of the pressure would have to be placed for tightening. Thank goodness for moments of creative inspiration!

Turkey Trick!

Turkey learned how to go get his leash before going on a walk! #37- Check! (Modified from "Teach Turkey to jump over Storm." Storm doesn't trust Turkey, and I don't blame her.)

I'm an official geocache hider!

The way my luck was going I thought it would never happen. Back in Memphis, my first cache that I attempted to hide was discovered before I had even posted it online! Someone had to have been watching me hide it, because I went to check on it one more time before submitting it for review and the log had been signed. The handle, "MPD," was written and a handcuff key was attached. What? Was the Memphis Police Department messing with me?! I was a bit weirded out with that situation, so I just removed the cache and never posted it.

Fast forward to Hawaii. A couple weeks ago I came up with an idea for a puzzle cache based around the theme of the TV show, Breaking Bad, and a British explorer who mapped the Hawaiian Islands. Captain Cook was the name of the explorer and there is also a character on the show with the same name, hence, the link between the two. I was really excited about the cache idea and came up with a bunch of questions to solve the puzzle, an interesting write-up on the show, info on the Captain, the whole bit. I was really proud of it and thought it came together nicely.

My excitement turned into frustration though, when, after submitting the cache, the reviewer told me that it could not be posted because it was of a commercial nature. As in, I was trying to advertise for the show and force people to purchase cable to watch it. I was so bummed that I was on the brink of yet another cache failure! 

Well, I decided I wasn't going to roll over. I explained to the reviewer that I had no affiliation with the show, would in no way benefit monetarily, and on top of all that, I don't even have cable (let alone a TV) so it was silly to think I was trying to force people to buy cable just to solve the cache. Besides, I accounted for people who may not have seen the show by creating the puzzle so that it could be solved by just a few google searches if need be, anyway.

It took some more communication and involvement with the head geocaching regulation group, but in the end, I got approved! "Breaking Bad with Captain Cook" was posted July 17 at 5:12 PM and just over 2 and a half hours later it was found by GeoGerms. It turns out that GeoGerms is a power cacher here on the islands. He and his kids have found every single cache on the island of Oahu!! What?! I read his profile further and discovered that he also took a geocaching challenge which required that he find a series of caches on 4 separate islands, and he did it all in ONE DAY! This guy is a nut and I love it!

Breaking Bad with Captain Cook Cache

Anyway, that was the long-winded tale of my cache hiding adventures so far. This only completes a third of goal #17- Hide 3 geocaches, but now that I finally have one under my belt, I'm hoping the others will go more smoothly. :]  If you want to check out the cache you can click here.

mmmmm...thai food!

Crisp salad with special house peanut sauce, perfectly seasoned hot and sweet vegetable soup, and for the grand finale, spicy chicken gang deang with creamy coconut milk mixed in a medley of carrots, bell peppers, bamboo shoots, and fresh thai basil. Oh, Thai Bistro, how I've missed you!

This fine Memphis establishment was my lunchtime addiction. I probably should have sought out therapy, because, like a drug addict, almost every single Thursday I would shamelessly show up to get the above lunch special to go. (And it had to be Thursday, see, because that was hot and sweet vegetable soup day, which was by far the best.) I really am kind of embarrassed to say, but it got to the point where the owner, Ann, would expect my call. She would just pick up the phone and tell me right away that "my usual" would be ready in 15 minutes. Bad, right?! But so goooood, I couldn't help it! :)

my to go soup lid

Anyway, since being in Honolulu, I have tried to find something even remotely comparable at thai restaurants here. No such luck. As I was mourning this fact one day, between my whines and whimpers, Brian told me I just needed to try to make some on my own. A novel idea, but cooking curry seemed so foreign! It needs fish sauce?! I don't think I want to touch that. Well, with more encouragement from Brian, I finally decided to just give it a shot. It was one of my goals anyway (#66).

I have to say it turned out better than I expected. And, surprisingly, the actual cooking process wasn't as complicated as I thought it would be. However, something definitely wasn't quite right, and I think that was because I made some compromises with the ingredients. For instance, I used regular basil, not thai basil, and because of my fear of the fish sauce, I don't think I put in enough. I've tried to make the dish twice since then, and I'm getting better! Brian picked up some thai basil from the farmer's market and that makes a world of difference! I still don't think I'll ever reach the pinnacle that is Thai Bistro, but I'm just glad I have an alternative to the so-so thai restaurants we're finding here.

pet paintings

Stormie had a vet appointment a couple days ago to get her yearly shots. The trip to the vet was kind of a mini appointment for me too, because I presented a flyer to them. I've been thinking that I might be able to get some work painting portraits of pets, so I figured what better place than a vet's office to advertise my services. Hence, I asked if they would be interested in displaying the following flyer in their waiting room (#19).

The receptionist said she needed to get the doctor's approval, understandably, so I'm waiting to hear back to see if it's ok. I think I'll try to hit up a couple other vets, too, to try to get more visibility.

LinkedIn

I signed up on LinkedIn because I thought I was supposed to for my career, not because I really wanted to or thought it was interesting. However, if I have a profile page and all that is listed is my name, picture, and the meager basics, then what's the point, right? So, I figured if I was going to be on there, I might as well at least fake like I think it's important. Hence, goal #90- Update my LinkedIn Profile.

Obviously, now that I'm on the job hunt, LinkedIn might actually be of service to me. So, I think that's why I finally got around to doing it. Here's my page with the updates. I really wouldn't waste your time visiting it, unless you get your giggles from reading resumes. It's terribly boring and braggy in typical resume fashion, so you can just trust me on this one ;)

Here's a profile that you should actually check out: Art Flater

portraits

I had two opportunities come up recently where I was able to accomplish goal #21- Start practicing taking portraits of friends. This is something I really want to get better at, so what better way than practice, right?! I hadn't really busted out my cam cam since the honeymoon, so it was about durn time!

The first shoot I had was with Brian's friends from from work, Kate and Adam. The reason for taking the pictures was because Kate was 9 months preggers! I had never taken pictures before of someone who was pregnant, so I was just kind of making it up as I went. A couple of shots had a bit of a blur that I wasn't happy about, but overall I was fairly pleased with the results!

Their first baby Lana :]

And Kate had her baby, Kyden, on the 9th, so now I get to take pictures of him! Super excited! Shooting Kate and Adam was a good warm-up for a paid job that I found off of craigslist to capture a guy, Dan, proposing to his girlfriend, Mary, on the beach of Waikiki. Shooting Kate and Adam was very relaxed, and not even really planned, but a proposal?! Sheesh, I was nervous! 

Luckily, it turned out that Dan was very easy going too, AND as it turned out, an industrial designer! We got along well. When it was "go time", I did make a rookie mistake and didn't get the the ideal action shots that I wanted, but the pictures worked out nonetheless. Thankfully, the pressure was off after the surprise and the portraits session went more smoothly. Here are my favorites:

 

She said YES!

I think I want to follow in Lexi's footsteps and do more of this!