Un-Belize-able

We are currently in Belize sitting in an ocean-side cabana trying to catch up on some work.  We have been on the road for about 2 months and it has been unbelievable...full of highs and lows, but mostly highs.  :)  There has been lots of soul-searching and learning about ourselves, individually and as a couple. 

Check out our travel blog to see what we are up to.  It is sadly behind, but we are working hard to get it caught up!

Architreks.blogspot.com

Aloha, S & E

ps...Are You Happy?

from Datavis

I love this.  I just may have to buy it for myself when I start accumulating stuff again.  If I bought it now it would just sit in my parent's basement with the rest of my life (thanks, Mom!  I will make it up to you some day...!)

Best Day of the Week

Today is Thursday!  Happy Thursday everyone!

Thursday is my absolute favorite day of the week because, to me, Thursdays signify hopeful anticipation, freedom, and a little bit of magical "anything can happen."

By the time Thursday rolls around, I am always quite ready to be released in to the wilds of a weekend, stir-crazy from sitting all week in my tiny box, and dreaming of the ways I am going to use the precious free time allotted to me from 5:00 pm on Friday until 7:00 am on Monday.  Thursday is magical because I still have one more day to plan my weekend...by Friday afternoon it's already too late.   By Friday, the weekend is HERE and the pressure is ON to pack in as much fun, adventure, relaxation, or whatever it is that I am seeking.  

My love for Thursdays started in college because Robinella played at Union Jack's on Thursdays.  And it didn't matter how late I stayed out or how tired I would be in class the next day because it was just one day.  I could suffer through anything for one day.  And after that one day was FREEDOM.  :)

Enjoy your weekends, everyone.

National Park Week! Get thee out there!

The week of April 17-25 is National Park Week; FREE entrance to National Parks!

Wooohooo!

Hmm...there is only 1 National Park on Oahu.  And it's already free.  And I've been there 18 times.

One day I will make it to Yosemite and Death Valley!  One day.

January Recap

So I guess when I said "Big changes are coming", it meant that I was going to then take a 2-month blogging hiatus. Who knew!

Really, I just dislike posting when I don't have any pictures to post.  We do take pictures, but then Ethan hogs the camera for "work" and the pictures get uploaded somewhere to the dark recesses of our back-up drive, never to see the light of day.

Thanks to Mom, Mara, and Dave...here is a quick January re-cap in (stolen) photos!

Cheers from Nana & Papaw from Key Largo, Florida!  

Growing up, we used to go visit them every winter...getting to take a week off of school and coming back with a tan was the best!  I have such awesome memories of times spent at the Key Largo campground with my family!  I'm so glad Mom & Dad got to go down this year.

Ethan and I passed our 3rd & 4th exams!!  

Okay, so this pic is from December...Mara took it when she and Beno stopped over in Hawaii.  They got to witness the dread and then ELATION as we opened our letters.  The huge smiles on our faces say it all.  4 down, 3 to go...

Snow in the desert!

I got sent to Las Vegas in mid-January for a work trip- trade show, and of course we made the most of it.  Our Hawaii friends (who just moved to Cali) Amy and Dave, and Yen (who also just moved to Cali) drove over to meet us for a fun weekend in Vegas!  We drove out to Red Rock Canyon on Saturday to see the sights and SNOW!  I couldn't believe how much snow there was.

More to come...have a great weekend!

Happy Thirty, Ethan!

Happy Birthday to this guy:

Thirrrty never looked so good!

Twenty Ten

Big changes are coming, people!

My company’s PR people are truly spectacular

You may remember I had to go on the Morning News show last year and demonstrate how to make recycled CD Christmas ornaments.

This year we stepped it up a notch.

Happy Christmukkah!

I think this little bloggy is a year old! One of my first posts was last year's Stumblin Santa event...and the 2009 edition just happened this past Friday.


Stacey, Ethan, Darren-Claus


Since it was also the first night of Hanukkah, Ethan, Katie, and I decided we would be Hanukkah candles instead of the token Claus, Elf, or Reindeer. I never knew there were so many Jewish people in Hawaii! They kept coming out of the woodwork, wanting to be my friend, and sing Hanukkah songs with me. I felt like such a celebrity. Ha! :)

Behold...


Katie, Stacey at the first bar



Sara, Stacey

I also think it is a sign that we are getting old that I wanted to go home shortly after 3 bars (the event is supposed to be a 12-bar pub crawl...i.e. the 12 Bars of Christmas.) Maybe I was just resting up since WE FLY HOME NEXT WEEK! Woohooo!


We found a Hanukkah Prom Pose display leaving bar #3!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Three Holiday Movie Recommendations from my 12-year old self

The other evening, just settling down with Thai food takeout, we were quite delighted to catch National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation on the telly. This, the ultimate 80’s Christmas funny movie. Once the tree had burned, the boss kidnapped, family memories made, and the credits rolled...I got to thinking about the Christmas movies we watched growing up.

We had a taped-from-Disney-Channel VHS tape that had Christmas Vacation and Prancer on it, back to back. I would watch this every Christmas, over and over again. If you haven’t seen Prancer, I really recommend it. Must’ve been filmed in Canada because it is all snowy and wooded and pretty darn magical. Plus it features Sam Elliot (the narrator from Big Lebowski) as Rebecca’s Dad.

#1 - Prancer



We also had a movie store in Dickson called Video Vision, which just happened to be right next door to my parents drug store. I can remember getting off the bus at the store, doing homework in the back room (unless I was made to dust shelves...yuck!) until 6:00 when the store closed down, and then running next door in the cold to rent either One Magic Christmas or Santa Claus: The Movie. One Magic Christmas has a similar plot line to It’s A Wonderful Life, with more forlornness. The humbug Mom in this movie and the Angel Gideon always stand out in my mind.

#2 -Once Magic Christmas



Santa Claus: The Movie is my final favorite Christmas movie. This one attempts to explain the mysteries of Santa Claus, elves, flying reindeer, etc. It even has some ending scenes of magic candy canes that make you fly. Pretty sweet!

#3 -Santa Claus: The Movie


Happy December Y'all!