Passing time, anticipation and minor setbacks

My Mom is coming to visit!!!!! Can't even begin to express how excited I am.  How excited the little ones are too. So, with that said, I think I have seen every minute pass today just anticipating her arrival.  The girls will get home from school in 1 1/2 hours and then we'll hope in the car and climb the mountain, go through the mountain, breeze down the other side and pull up at the airport to get her.   Yay!!  You see, I've never actually had my Mom all to myself since I have been married. So this time together will be wonderful. She is an artist in all aspects of life and this place is going to reveal its magic to her, no doubt, because it has already revealed its magic to me.

Today, as I returned the garbage barrel back to the house, I could smell the neighbors making breakfast and the plumeria blossoms in the breeze. Do you know how blessed I feel when so many others are dealing with colder than cold temperatures back at home?  And so, when I start feeling antsy or upset about something, I need to keep reminding myself that I have a lot of good happening right now.

So on my docket of things....I started a piece last night that I will enter into a competition for Mardi Gras. I'm at the point right now that I need to decide about color, do I do watercolor or marker or colored pencil??  The pic shows it 1/2 way through my first process but I have since markered in all the details. Any suggestions on color? I've never actually experience Mardi Gras in person but from all the photos I've researched, I have an idea that bright bold colors would work best. This will possibly be put to fabric too, so I keep wondering if the bolder the color, the better the outcome on fabric.

I'm now down to 2 hours 49 minutes 'til Mom steps foot in HI.  Haha, I swear I'm not counting.

 I found a quote this morning that made me smile and I need to share it. It truly is a great perspective on an otherwise annoying situation.   I will take pleasure in knowing that I am one step ahead and I'm happy to be where I am.  I know who I am as a creator, as an artist and as a Mom. I get inspired by others as does everyone, but I know I find my own way in my own time. So eat your heart out, and please do keep following because you are making the biggest fool of yourself.

 

http://www.thatonerule.com/

Who knew that high school like drama would follow us into adulthood. But I'm too happy today to let this get me down. I just needed to write about it,  and not so candidly, to finally get it off my chest.

Now the little man and I, will figure out a way to pass the next couple of hours until we get to show Mom our little slice of paradise.  Oh, all our furniture and "stuff" will get to the island next week which means, a lot more creative days to come! I cannot wait. It's a wonderful day!! :)

Until next time, have a creatively blessed day!

Inspiration, Awe-magination

WOW, can I just say every day here in Hawaii is inspirational. I don't think I can stress it enough just how amazing this place is. I think I found where I want to retire. I always thought the perfect place to live would be somewhere with huge mountains and ocean views, this has it all. Not to mention the bold colors and warmer all year temperatures.

     When we first got orders to Hawaii, I wondered how I could feel about not seeing that first snow fall of the winter, cozying up with a cup of hot drink and a soft blanket (who are we kidding, with 3 kids that hardly happened anyway) but last week, as we strolled the beach at Pyramid beach, I thought, "Heck No, I am not going to miss the snow."  If the area was such that it got gray in the winter and lost the luscious colors, I long for snow for a change of pace and so everything looks new again.  But here, the colors stay green year round and the ocean with it's ever changing form is literally 10 minutes from home.  I told Bryce that I don't think I will miss the snow at all while we are here!


     Inspiration abounds here so, needless to say, I have been busy creating watercolors, sketches, and bracelets. Sunsets, inspirational. Ocean waves, inspirational. Rainy clouds, inspirational. Mountain backgrounds, inspirational. Flowers all around, inspirational. I feel completely blessed to have this opportunity to experience the most beautiful place on earth.

      I will be honest though, I do miss my "stuff" and I look forward to when it arrives here in Hawaii so I can make this house feel like our home.  I look forward to setting up each of the children's bedrooms. Cooking a proper meal with all my regular kitchen gadgets. Getting my big computer so I can upload, edit and share some of the amazing photos I have taken with my regular camera and not just these low quality phone pictures.

     In the process of getting settled here, I have had a couple of downs. Bryce is off to classes so the kids and I are here exploring without him. I lost a friend to petty online business stuff, which I don't want to get in to but it has bothered me deeply for a couple of months now and i finally cut the tie. All I will say about it is she has gone beyond the "inspired" mark and when it comes to being creative, I don't want a negative energy to envelop me, which is what this "friendship" was doing to me.

     And I've discovered that I am incredibly skiddish around creatures that are maybe 1,000 times smaller than me.  Yes...geckos and roaches are not my idea of indoor pets but for some reason, here in Hawaii they feel like I want them as my own personal pets.  But I tell you, they will not stop me from open every window of this house and enjoying the trade-winds that blow through.

North Shore Beach

     I anxiously await my Mom's arrival next week. I can't wait to show her this slice of Paradise in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

     So from here on out, only positives! Good energy, good thoughts, pure inspiration and art.

Rainbows and Sunshine

We're going on week 2 in paradise. It's been raining a whole lot and very windy, but even with "Rainbow Season" (thank you Ellen!) I'm enjoying our time here immensely.  Today the day started out overcast on one side of the house, almost clear on the other side of the house. I walked the girls to school and suddenly the clouds opened up and dumped a whole bunch of plant food on us (I mean rain) and off in the distance a beautiful, completely full rainbow greeted my walk home. It was lovely.

Reluctantly this week, I had to get back into the workout grind. So mustering up all my will power, I put out my yoga mat 2 days in a row and got to sweat my butt of to Jillian's Biggest Loser workout and her 30 day shred workout. I need to get a "beach body" to fit in around here, I'm far from having one. LOL.   Luckily, the sun was still shining when I finished up today so Fletch and I took a dip in the not so warm pool. I let him splash around for a bit as I took in a bit more sunshine before the clouds decided to hug her away again.

So now, we have several more hours ahead of us before the girls get home from school. I do miss my creative supplies but I am happy I at least have a couple of sketch books and pens/pencils with me.  I have been on Pinterest far too much the past few days building up my "inspiration" files. If you want to follow along, here is my link: http://pinterest.com/quatapoch/pins/

My girls started at their new schools yesterday. They were both pretty much happy when they got home yesterday. It was certainly cute to see them walking home together. And so fun to be near enough to school that they get to experience something I did when I was younger instead of constantly being a bus rider. I was a little uncertain about Mia's teacher but it turns out she was very sweet and very friendly and Mia was truly happy when she got home.  She said she made a friend which put my mind at ease.  Vera too was happy, but she did tell me her teacher yells (could be that she just speaks loudly and it's something she will need to get used to) she has to sit next to 2 boys at lunch because lunch is by last name now, not by class.  She said her spelling words are easy but we might have a little bit of work to do with math because they started division in her class already and so far, she is only used to multiplication.  Hopefully today is an even better day for them. I'm truly proud of them, they have been such troopers with all of our moves, having to make new friends and getting used to new schools.  They have been adapting nicely with each adventure they are presented and we haven't had too many emotional meltdowns.

Now, to work on potty training with the little guy so maybe he can go to preschool a few days a week. I know this is going to be a challenge because so far, there is absolutely NO interest. By this age, the girls were both potty trained. I can say for sure, raising a boy is SO different than raising girls.

Well...I am going to end here. I want to sit and "color" with Fletcher before lunch and nap time. Until next time, stay creatively happy!

here we are at sunset beach in the North Shore, waves were HUGE!

Soursop, Papaya, Kona Coffee and Tropical Life

I am happy to report that we a no longer a Nomad family. We took the long flights from Boston, to Salt Lake City to Honolulu and finally settled in our new home on New Year's Eve. The Navy has loaned us some wicker and floral furniture until our actual furniture arrives.  I'll take this uncomfortable furniture any day, beats staying in a sticky hotel right off a busy freeway any day.

layover in salt lake city, utah

The flights were uneventful. I am not fond of flying so for this, I am happy.  The girls were excellent on both legs of the trip. Fletcher, well, he was our wild card but much to my delight, he slept for 1/2 of both of the airplane rides which meant only 2.5 hrs and 3.5 hours of keeping him entertained so his loud screech or scream wouldn't startled any of the passengers near us. We went from some cold weather in Boston to arrive on a lush green, warm island. It was an amazing difference.

Kailua beach, first day here

 The first and second day here, the weather was pretty agreeable but since we have actually moved into the house, it's pretty much been raining and incredibly windy but yet, not too humid.  What I love is that you can drive up the Pali Highway, or head up the H3, drive through the tunnels and the other side of the island is sunny and a bit warmer. So the sun is never truly far away.  I am told this has been an unusually wet "rainy season"  so maybe in a few days it'll clear up again.




The house is really cool. It's mostly 1 floor but the master bedroom has it's own level.  From the master bedroom balcony, on a clear day, we can see the most amazing mountains. Watching the sun rise, you see the orange reflection on the mountains. It is absolutely inspiring.

Our master bedroom has such a green tropical view, and mountains just off in the distance

Our yard has beautiful lush trees, an Avocado tree, a Papaya Tree and a Soursop Tree (http://www.collective-evolution.com/2012/11/23/can-soursop-really-cure-cancer/) as well as a Kona coffee plant! We have had two Gecko's take up residence in the house already but they have disappeared from our view so maybe they decided we were too noisy.

Soursop tree in backyard

I walked the kiddos over to their new school yesterday. We searched the campus grounds for the front office and what a quaint little school! It's only a 1 minute walk from home, I told the girls they will probably hear Fletcher scream during recess time we are so close.  I filled out the 1,000 pieces of paper for enrollment but then we had to take a drive over to base to enroll in Tricare for this region and get TB shots for the girls. They are required before they are allowed to start school, so these lucky ducks get 2 extra days off and will probably start on Monday.

They are anxious and excited.  Such troopers.  It must be hard to get up and move every 2 years, have to make a new set of friends, find your way around a new school and worry if your teachers will be super nice. But they have such beautiful personalities that I am sure they will make friends quickly and as for teachers, I tell them to always be nice to their teachers because it's a tough job. I remind them that I sometimes get mad at them and I only have to deal with 3 kids...not 18+ children.

Well,  we have been on island now for 4 1/2 days and jet lag is still getting to me.  I've been trying to go to bed later each night but I still keep getting up very early in the morning.  At least it's not 3 a.m. like the first day here, at the hotel nonetheless.  At least now that we are home, I can relax, catch up on my posts, and have a cup of coffee before my chaos begins.

I am anxiously awaiting our HHG. I want to share pictures of our scenery but I'm so obsessed about editing that I wont upload them until I get my regular computer here. So until then, please keep coming back. I'll post more regularly now that we are connected to the interweb and I'll share photos from my phone until I can upload my pictures from my camera.

Have a beautiful, creative day!