Minty Goodness...Seasonal at Williams Sonoma

Williams Sonoma is one of my faaavorite places to shop. I feel like a kid in a candy store when I go in there. [picture big smile here] So it was a delight when I heard about the return of some terrific seasonal scents. I picked up their peppermint hand and dish soap. It smells so good I could almost eat it... or not. Even my hubby loves the scent. He is after all a sugarholic so it smells like those round little hard candy that people give away at parties...only better!

Treat yourself to this. Or treat someone else. It's terrific! Only around once a year. A tiny splurge will do you good and will help stimulate the economy naturally. :)

Our Love Story...There was just somethin

This is pt. 2 of our love story...

So as I continued to live my life and enjoy the fellowship on the forums, I did begin to wonder whether or not this man was especially friendly to me or not. I went back and forth with the thought. Why it mattered to me I don't know. And before you knew it, I found myself in conversation with a few female friends and they seemed to think that yes, my interaction with him set us apart from everyone else. At that point I began to purposely be in doubt. At the same, I was very curious. Again, at the time I had no idea why I would curious. I think it's because when you suspect a person may like you, you want to rule it out. But for some reason I didn't want to rule it out. If this person indeed showed some interest, somehow I wouldn't reject it. I didn't go in defensive mode. If I wasn't interested, I knew it. But this time around I wasn't not interested. So I figured that maybe, just maybe it wouldn't hurt to get to to know this person better. Hope that makes sense.

As soon as I figured that one out, things began to change. I began receiving messages and clearer signs from him that he was indeed interested. The turning point came when he publicly gave me a compliment on my thread for everyone to see. It was a nice compliment but not embarrassing nor inappropriate. It was very sweet. It was just right to the point that it created some accountability.

It's so funny cause at this point, we have not yet communicated outside the forums. We did send messages to each other but we never e-mailed or anything. But now it was time to do so. So we decided to IM each other. What happened next was completely unexpected. Therefore, this is the time when I began to really, really pray.

Above the Dining Table

In our tiny little kitchen and over the dining room table is where we have two very special pieces...our engagement sketch and our wedding picture. I know, I know. A year has passed and I have yet to post pics online. Will do that as soon as I get them on CD from our photographer. :D Family members, thank you for your ummm, patience. For now, here a glimpse.



Instead of engagement photos we decided to do a charcoal engagement sketch! For those who attended the wedding this will be familiar to you. We had this displayed at the reception. The artist did a FANTASTIC job. He took two separate photos of us, changed our positions so that we looked like we were together. Kind of a two becoming one transformation. :)



Next to it is our wedding collage. I wanted to do something different. Instead of the usual formal pose, I wanted to show photos that really reflected our day. One the left, that is how we felt (I was elated. John was daydreaming. lol) and on the right is a closeup of my putting on his ring. The middle is the wedding invitation and a plaque that says, "When Two Become One".

So we get to see this everyday and everyday we re-live that special day. I love my sweetheart. I am truly blessed. :)

The TAB (Turkey, Apple and Brie)

I found this recipe on the web and just had to try it. I figured an occasional fancy smancy sandwich would be ok. Whatever occasional means, I will leave that up to you. After all, you have to use ALL ingredients until you run out right? :D

Tasty Kitchen is a new food site that showcases recipes that are supposed to be tried and true. And when I saw this sandwich, I thought, "Hmmm..." The first thing that came to mind was that John doesn't like cheese so he wouldn't eat this. Then there was that part of me that said, "Oh goodie. More for me then." Hehe. I know, I know. I'm bad.

So after I got over the brief guilt, I decided to try this. Here is the verdict. If you don't have fresh turkey, the next best thing is a deli cut that has less salt. Many deli cuts are rather salty. This is important because brie can be in itself salty as well. I immediately learned that this is both a savory and sweet sandwich all in one. The turkey and brie has good saltiness (you don't really need to put any added salt to this. Pepper yes). To gain the most from this sandwich you have to remember two important things...

1) Pick apples that are sweet. Tart apples just will not do it.
2) Do not be too shy on the apple butter (or whatever fruit preserve you use)

You need the above if you want the right balance of savory and sweet. It you don't have enough sweet in this sandwich, it will not be as good. As for the oil and mayo, I skipped that. The brie is rich enough for me. One thing I would add is some green color to this. Perhaps next time I will add a few leaves of mint or basil. It should add another level of flavor to it as well!

Try it. It was good. Not bad for this island girl huh? Not everything is tuna and rice. lol

How Grand It Was

John and I were recently able to take a vacation to Arizona, with the primary purpose of visiting part of his family. It was my first time meeting his older brother and family and we had a great time! Because I didn't get permission from them, I don't have photos posted here of them. I do have a few photos that sum up our time there (though we took a whooole lot more.) And a few or so is all you need to gain an idea of what our trip was like.





Sedona was a very beautiful town! We weren't planning on staying here originally but decided to one evening. I am so glad we did because the views were lovely.


The main highlight of our trip was of course, the Grand Canyon. You just can't help being in awe of this natural, yet supernatural piece of earth! You could see various colors from reds to blues and more. We had hoped that John's family would have been able to come but they couldn't for practical reasons. Perhaps next time huh?



We decided to take the 2 hour plus train ride to the Canyon on the Grand Canyon Railway. Unfortunately, the old steam trains (which also ran on diesel) were too expensive to run so they stopped using those a few months ago. We did ride a more "modern" 1950s all diesel train.

I loved the cool weather up North. It was a nice change from always warm Hawaii.

Other things we did on this trip was drive around the Phoenix area and see a few places where John used to live. We also got to visit and place flowers at his mom's grave. It was a nice time. It's always fun and memorable to travel with someone you love. :)

Above the bookshelf

This is a very special piece in our home. When John moved here, he brought along a special memory of his late mother. Being the sentimental man he is, he brought along a painting his mother painted some years back. She passed away just months before we began "dating". I never got to meet her but every time I see this piece, I can't help feeling as if I did.

When John showed me the piece, I immediately knew what I wanted to do with it. I'm a framing design consultant and I thought it would be a lovely wedding gift to my then soon to be husband! We were in a restaurant and yes, I had him open it there. lol He obviously knew it was some kind of frame. How would you not know? He was so excited to see what it was, he just had to see it as soon as we sat down. It was like watching a child open up a birthday gift. :) I can never forget the look on his face when he saw it. I just about melted because I knew he wanted to cry. He had the softest smile and eyes. You can say awwwweee now.

It sits over our bookshelf in our bedroom. Just a piece in our home that is more than just a typical floral painting.

Our Love Story...Beginnings

Every marriage begins with a love story...

About 4 years ago, I began participating regularly on an online Christian website called Crosswalk.com. Like many websites in cyberspace, there is community area where people can post topics and discuss just about anything. From politics to home and garden, this is a community where believers can come to talk. On this forum, there was an area where you could generate your own "space" so-to-speak...a thread where you can come back to on your own and talk about whatever you want. So I started my own thread, in hopes to meet some like-minded friends.

It was about a year since I participated regularly on the forums and I was really enjoying it. Not only did I make friends in my own thread but I was also enjoying the "company" of the folks in the singles folder. The singles folder at the time was great. Not only did we have fun chats but it was a place where I could encourage other singles to live life abundantly and to wait patiently for that special someone to come into our lives. I never really had that aching desire to find someone. I would've been happy if I did meet someone; but if I didn't I knew I was gonna be ok.
Then in January 2006 (New Years Day), things began to change. My heart began to desire things I never really worried too much about before. Even so, I remained pretty calm, although I have to admit I was pretty excited about it.

Like I usually did, I noticed when someone new started up their own thread. He seemed like a nice addition to the forums and since I was very active in the forums at the time, we both spent some considerable amount of time chatting. I didn't realize it at the time, but we were both online at the same time, chatting on most evenings of the week. I didn't think much about it. I was always online in the evenings. A few others would be around too. What I did notice though is that we were very comfortable chatting with each other. I soon learned that John liked to tease. But at that point, I didn't think much of it because he seemed to joke around with others as well. But we did enjoy each others "company" so-to-speak. And I was considered a very active poster at the time. lol I soon learned that he had been a part of the Crosswalk community before, as back as 2002. He was on hiatus for a little while and returned to the community in 2006. I had also been around off and on the same earlier time he was. But back then I wasn't as involved as I was in 2006.

Anyhoo, here I was enjoying the online fellowship on the forums. Then one day, I began to wonder something.

Stay tuned for the next part of our love story!