Love the new paint color! slate it is for the next few years;-)... also hung up the lennons and a bunch of photos downstairs...actually feels more like we want to live here now which is a good thing...since we plan to stay awhile...also bought a new back door - dutch door actually since we currently have a dutch door and I love it so much. need to find paint for that now..either a brick red or a burgundy/purple...a little more then i expected to pay but its a nice door, fir...Frank's doorstore rocks.. yes a stored devoted to nothing but doors!

and Maui was amazing as usual. loved the condo in Wailea, loved the "new" beach we found in Wailea/Makena..so quiet. In fact, on our last day there we showed up early around 8am and we were the only people there. The water was so clear I could see fish just standing in the water...crazy. Didn't really do much this time other then eat and soak up the sun. went to the Maui Ocean center, Mama's fishouse, some hiking upcountry... found a great Italian place walking distance from the condo - matteos...so good... oh and the gelato - still thinking of the gelato. Brian and I have decided we are going to start our Maui fund right away so we can go again next year...yes there are so many places to visit in this world but I heart Maui and why change it if it aint broke...such a Brian thing to say;-).

4 years later and I am "tired" of the living room....so whats the cheapest thing to do? new paint! haha...when Brian hears me say paint color I think he prepares himself for paint colors..aka, 2 to 3 shades later I'll finally like something..but maybe , just maybe we'll get lucky this time and I'll love the color we chose...slate.. just worried it might be a tad dark when its cold and dark out but we're hopeful it'll work out okay:-)... also going to finally frame our family photos and hang them...we now have 15 PB gallery frames thanks to my Xmas gift cards:-) to cover everyone including some very cool old photos of Brians' grandparents from the early 1900s... and those Lennons I framed for Brian will finally find a home in the living room. I bought 2 shelves this weekend and was going to put them up in the living room then fill it with photos, prints but nah...we have those huge Lennons with nowhere to go so why not. Just need to choose the 2 I like best and a home for the lonely 3rd:-)... also need some new curtains and a redo of the mantle... oh new coffee table maybe?? k, I'm pushing it...no photos till its done and I actually like it:-).
and today was our 7 year anniversary! crazy.. 7 years has just flown by...no celebrations today...took it easy and will be celebrating in Maui in 5 days! can't wait! this was the same week we went last year..hope it'll be just as nice. got a condo this time for a change of pace so not sure what we'll get but staying in Wailea again and hoping to try the different beaches instead of just the one at Maui Prince...

My new headboard! It almost cost us our marriage:-) but heres the bed Brian made for me.. some foam, a piece of board, batting, and some fabric with plenty of staples and voila!..100bucks instead of 699 plus 150 to ship at PB:-)

PB One...

And one we made...

Been awhile since I've posted some food! Since B is out of work, we're cooking more:-).. some of the usual and 2 dishes I tried out recently.. Bolognese sauce and a soup I call clean out the fridge soup that actually turned out really good..its a cross between a minestrone and an italian wedding soup (the meatballs)..

food photography:

Bolognese sauce with fettucine and shaved parmesan

Bolognese sauce 4 hours later.. not sure I'd do this again..it was good but 4 hours?? not so sure

Has it been a month? geez..time flies when you're busy.. I am enjoying a very lazy calm saturday - something I haven't done it seems in a long time.. i felt at ease for once..had a nice dinner at Jaks' with Brian on Friday.. a glass of good merlot and a big fat steak and I slept like a baby.. today I spent the entire day at home, cooked chicken and noodles for J&J and now I'm just sitting back with a cup of coffee..I know people complain about the rain around here but I really enjoyed it today..so calming. The last month has been nothing but stress so I really needed a day like this. A few weeks ago I spent the week in St. Louis at a mtg which turned out really well but man the flight was killer..early morning flight, 2 legs to get there. yuck..came back to more stress at work coupled with the move to a new office space and brian's job and school..but all is well for now. We got Brian registered for classes - finally..this was a lot harder then it sounded.. so many options, so many things to consider and all the apps..poor guy probably had about 10 advising sessions before it was all said and done but I think w'ere headed in the right direction and i'm glad he'll be able to do something he's wanted to do and something that I think will be very fullfilling..hard work I'm sure but fulfilling..so with that out of the way, and some stressful things at work over, I'm finally able to relax this weekend.. we'll see what next week brings...

My first attempt at blueberry scones turned out pretty darn good.. needs to be sweeter but aside from that, pretty good.. texture is like the ones at Starbucks so next time, some more sugar and we should be golden:-).. oh and a picture of Stanley using the liveview on me camera..

I''m on day 6 of using the new bike..so far so good... the last 2 days were much better.. still sore the day after but not so painful when riding so maybe my legs are getting used to this excercise - something they havent experienced in awhile:-).. I'm riding about 6 miles each day and burning about 150 calories each time..doens't seem like a lot but guess every bit helps hehe...
I had my eyes examined today and what do you know, my glasses were bad..so bad I could hardly read up to row 2! haha.. loved the optometrist at costco.. she has given me hope again on using contacts..the last time I tried them they "HURT"! so bad I gave them up.. the new optometrist tried a new brand and voila they went in so easy.. the stigmatism on my left eye is still kinda of weird with the contacts but at least they dont' hurt:-)..so happy. I like glasses but dang they're pricey and its nice to be able to not wear them every once in awhile..tomorrow I'm going to wear them again to get used to them..happy happy.. and I love costco! 2 pairs of lenses for less then 200bucks.. Market Optical charges me almost 200bucks for 1 pair..yikes..unfortunately I had one pair that they couldn't do so I will have to take it back to Mkt Optical becuase its such a "special" frame.. thats what I get for buying fancy frames.. no more of that now that I can wear contacts:-)

Gung Hay Fat Choy! I took Monday off to celebrate..well not really..just needed another day off:-) and I have the vacation so might as well. Anyhow, we had New Years eve lunch at moms and Monday New Years at moms again for dinner with the family.. Mom cooked all the traditional food and then some....the sad part is I was sitting there thinking, wow I have no idea how to do this.. maybe its time to learn.. oh and since I d idn't make any resolutions for new years I made one for chinese new years.. workout more! although the doc hasn't given the official okay to go to the gym, I felt well enough to go out and buy a nordic track recumbent bike.. I still had dollars to spend from work - its so nice when you're forced to spend:-).. so far I love the bike..comes with speakers for my iphone and a built in fan.. Our offices move end of Feb and I'll be bussing it so thought instead of coming home, then heading to the gym I can work out at home and still have time to make dinner and relax before bed.. ah the days are just not long enough.

How cute are these! haha.. you pull the top and the little fish or scroll moves.. hehe.

Its a sad day.. the McRib is no longer.. actually it was Sun when I found out.. went to Micky Ds hoping for a mcrib since I was not allowed to eat greasy bad for me food during my recovery.. still not suppose to but thought sunday I could get a little treat.. how disappointed was i when the guy said no more mcrib! ugh..just had to share...sad sad day.. till next time.

well unfortunately some not so good news to report..Brian was laid off his job last week and yeah took us a little bit by surprise although we should have probably saw it coming since the housing market is so bad but thats alright..new opportunity ..haha.. so in the meantime, I got him a list of "honey please dos".. started off with painting the bedroom which he said he'd help me do about a year ago! but yay its done! its now the blue I've always wanted.. we'll hold off on redoing all the furniture till things settle down and he lands somewhere.. lets see.. next thing is to repaint the window ledges and door downstairs where Stanley has scratched it all up from jumping up to see whos walking down the street.. We thought putting double sticky tape on the ledge would stop that behavior but nope..he doens't mind it now.. ugh.. so not sure what to do next..might just have to deal with it although now he's also jumping onto of my sheer curtains and of course I now have doggy footprints all over my pretty white sheers..ugh..double ugh.. that dang Stanley... and I've been back to work now for a whole week and it went well but not as well as I had hoped.. had to work from home Wed due to pain.. I think I overdid it the first 2 days but Thurs and Fri were fine so maybe next week will get even better.. I'm on week 5 now! woohoo.. although I did call the Doc the other day and asked him why it still hurts and they laughed at me.. well he said, because it can take 8 weeks to full feel 100%..ah.. well that explains it.. I'm an impatient person..what can I say..

Playing with the camera..different settings..can't remember what is what..hmm.. kinda fun:-)