Exploring.

There are times where I feel like I am on the verge of suffering from "island fever" and I just want to get off the island...but I can't. But whenever I start feeling like that, I just go out and explore this beautiful island that I live on. I have almost lived here for 6 years, and there are things that I have not yet done because...I live here. Since today was a holiday (Statehood day for Hawai'i)...I decided that I wanted to go to two museums that I have always wanted to go to...but just never really did.

It just so happened that my landlady is a docent at the Honolulu Museum of Art and she had mention a while back that if ever I wanted to go, she could always walk me around to the different places. I asked two of my friends to come along and that made 4 of us total, and we were all excited to go on our adventure.

Honolulu Museum of Art is like 3 museums put together. The Spalding House, the actual Museum of Art and the Shangri La. Today we went to the Spalding House and the Museum of Art. (And yes, I am already planning to go on the Shangri La tour!)

We first went to the Spalding house where we were able to see the exhibit Plastic Fantastic.

 

It was a pretty cool exhibit posing the question, is plastic "fantastic" or not? We can use plastic for a lot of things...but then it is also something that is harmful for the environment. But without plastic we wouldn't have the medium to produce such beautiful art...but also in excess and used irresponsibly it is more harm. This exhibit used plastic that was "garbage" to show people that there are uses for plastic and you don't have to throw it away.

 

These amazing pieces were made with different colored plastic bottles that were cut up and used to make art.

 

 These "geos" were made from paper and plastic. (I can see my class doing something like this as a project in our class!)

We also participated in an art masterpiece....

So all the plastic pieces that you see here were found on the beaches of Hawai'i. So sad. :(

These were the instructions of what you could do to participate in a large-scale public installation that someone will put together next month.

It was actually a lot harder to find pieces to match up to 1 ounce! It took me a while to get it just right...but I finally did...and

 

I strung all the pieces together with a little metal wire...

 

 ...and placed my 1 ounce of plastic on the wall of nails where a plenty other 1 ounce pieces were hung. My landlady (the docent) said that this project has been going on since April (I think that's what she said!) and so this wall has been filled up so many times already! At least twice a week they had to take down the little one ounce pieces to make room for the new pieces! But it was pretty cool to be a part of that!

We also were able to walk the beautiful grounds of the Spalding House...

 

I could not get over just how beautiful the outdoor grounds were! This garden was amazing and so gorgeous! I feel as if I would be so inspired to do a painting here! If only I could sketch! I feel like I can stay here for a long time....

 This tree was begging to be climbed...and I could so see myself climbing this tree with a book in my  mouth (or in a backpack) and just reading balanced on one of the branches. It was so beautiful!

I was super bummed because we could have had a picnic on the lawn...however, when we were ready to eat lunch...there was a downpour. Which I wouldn't have mind eating in...but I didn't think my friends would have liked it the way that I did. But as soon as we had our amazing, yummy, tummy-filling lunch...we headed over to the Honolulu Museum of Art. But not before my friend and I played with this art piece!

It was actually a lot of fun and challenging trying to take a selfie in this mirrored art piece! 

This was the closest that I got to trying to get myself in all the little mirrors! :)

 

 Thank you James Seawright for this...it was very entertaining. :)

Before making our way to the Honolulu Museum of Art, my landlady warned us that we wouldn't be able to go through everything because of how big the place was. So I have decided that I would like to go back again one day. :)

The first exhibit that we went to was the art of the Philippines. I was ashamed to say that I didn't know about a lot of the art pieces that I saw...but in my defense, I did not grow up learning about the Philippine Art...I did notice though that I really liked a lot of the jewelry that they made!

I really liked a lot of the earrings! I can't really see myself wearing the necklaces...but I do like them as well! Their bracelets were pretty impressive as well!

This art piece caught my attention...but when I got close to it...it kind of freaked me out!

When you looked closely at this piece...you can see why I quickly jumped back. 

There are EYEBALLS all over this totem thingy! It reminds me of something from Jeepers Creepers! Yeah, it took me awhile to be able to have the balls to take this picture...because it was really nerve wrecking...eyeballs. Staring at you. *shivers* No, thank you.

Well this piece is called "Assemblage of miscellaneous objects." I guess the person just had eyeballs just laying around to add. Hm....

I don't really remember the room that this tea collection was in...but I really like it...I like teapots, teacups, tea anything...I want to have a huge collection myself! :)

One of the last things that we did was rest at the Shangri La Cafe...and have these amazing cookies!

And then I also had the hibiscus soda...and that was super refreshing as well! But the company was amazing, the day was filled with informational fun...and I had a lot of....fun. :)

I can't wait until my next excursion to cross off my bucket list. :)

Happy birthday to my DollGirl.

It's so hard for me to believe that my "little" DollGirl is now 4 years old. Can it really be 4 years ago that this girl was just a helpless little babe?! Now, she is an extremely active, talk-a-tive, creative, funny, silly, big-hearted, amazing, beautiful big girl! I am so glad that I am a part of her life. I am so glad that I have this amazing honor to be her "Aunty." And I am so proud to call her MY DollGirl

This year her mom, my sister, decided to throw her a party filled with things that she enjoys doing...paper airplane making and decorating (hm...I wonder where she got THAT from!), random craft making, tattoos, stickers, painting, and of course jumping and just running, running, running! I wish that I thought to take more pictures...but I didn't keep my phone with me and I was busy helping with the different craft areas. Mainly, the airplane making area...that was a lot of fun.

I was able to grab a few pictures...

I liked this bead station...my sister bought a lot of different kind of beads for the kids to make their own thing with. I made DollGirl a bracelet with a blue whale and her name. :)

This station was just random craft material that they can make whatever they wanted to. I wish I thought to take pictures of the things that the children made because they really did use their imagination here and it was pretty cool!

 

My sister, being the organized person that she is!, decided to make signs everywhere there was a "station".

I'm not sure what this sign is for...but I liked it...I like the shiny gold on the white...and look at that fancy-smanchy font! :) "Have courage and be kind." Good words to live by. :)

 

 This was another of my favorite station! I absolutely adore stickers...and these were super fun sticker sheets...the kids sure had fun with them. :)

A blurry picture of the mama! My sister really knows how to make her daughter feel special! :) She really knows how to plan an event! :) Good thing...:) (Did you know that she is an AMAZING event coordinator professionally?! :))

My sister decided to let DollGirl open her presents when (most) everyone was gone...and we had a fun time watching her get excited over all her presents. She gets excited over the littlest things...and I love how she appreciates EVERYTHING...

Whenever you ask her what she wants to be when she grows up, she says that she wants to be "like papa"...and her papa works with "lots and lots of tools"...so I got her her own tool set! I couldn't find what I wanted here on the island, so I decided to order it online...and I swear it said that it was a CHILD'S tool set...when it arrived, I was tempted to keep it for myself! This stuff is the "real deal"!! And my DollGirl loved it. :)

And I couldn't just get her the tools...she needed her own tool belt to! :) Even though the tool set came with a tool bag, I wanted her to have her own tool belt as well. And yes, it's also the "real deal" belt! I'm so glad that it fit her...I have to admit that I was a little bit worried for a bit that it was going to be too big. But it fit perfectly with room to grow! Now she has her own tools and her own tool belt to work with "papa"! :)

I also got her that paper airplane necklace she is wearing right now. Like I mentioned earlier DollGirl likes making and playing with paper airplanes...and whoa...is it a coincidence that I do to?! :) But yeah, that's one of "our" thing...to make airplanes to fly them for hours (at least it seems like hours!)...so I got her that paper airplane necklace and gave it to her before her party started. She seemed to like it...oh yeah, she also seemed to like the 115 glow bracelets that I got her as well. :) (Yep, she is already holding one, and she did share with her friends who were still there.:)

I love this girl. She is a beautiful girl...beautiful inside and out...and I hope and pray that she never looses her sense of adventure. I hope and pray that she never looses the caring heart that she has. And I hope and pray that she will continue to grow to love life and know that no matter what I will always love her so much, a lot, forever...for always.

Happy birthday, my DollGirl. I love you. I love you. I love you.

Heart.

I think today was the peak of my sickness...not feeling wellness...and all that ladidahness. I was this close of asking Karlie if I could go home...but I just couldn't because I have never stayed home because I was sick...yes, I have never called in sick before, and I wasn't about to start. I always tell myself that if I am not at deaths door...then I can get up and do my responsibilities. And my responsibilities lies with the children. But let me tell you, I was counting the minutes of when I could just go home and just flop on my bed and knock out for a few hours...and I know that I was praying and hoping that I will be able to go to sleep.

Just as I laid down and was about to go to sleep, Karlie texted me asking me if I wanted to go see a movie with her. It was a movie that I had wanted to see, but in all seriousness, I was not feeling it. I seriously was not feeling it, and so I told her so, but I also told her to let me know the next time that wants to go to see a movie and if I wasn't working or had anything planned then I wouldn't mind going with her. We made tentative plans of when we could go see the movie before it went out of theaters.

And once again, I laid my head down. Then I get a text that my sister was less than 10 minutes away and heading my way to bring her in-laws to see my place! What?! Come on now, give me a break...so I called Mandy, who was also taking a nap and told her the news...so we went crazy trying to clean everything up...we have been told several times that our house is always clean...but to us it is always messy...so I guess the whole "you are your own worst critic" applies here...but anyways...just as we put the last finishing touches of cleaning our already clean house...at least making it presentable...they knocked on our door and they came in.

They didn't stay for long...just long enough to take the grand tour of our house and then they were on their way to Friday Night...which I had gracefully bowed out of because, like I mentioned before...I am SLEEPY and I just wanted to lay down. Usually I would just push my tiredness away and just hash it out...but I know that my body was THISCLOSE in nearly just knocking out no matter where I was...

As I walked my family out to their cars, I happen to look inside the mailbox and look what I see!

A package just for me! Of course I am too tired to even open in right away...I went inside, fell on my bed with the package right next to me...and knocked out for 2 hours. And now I am awake and the first thing I see was the package...so I opened it.

A dark blue box...

...with the golden anklet that I had bought for myself! I have been looking for the right anklet...and I saw this one and fell in love with it! I had totally forgotten that I had even gotten it for myself because it was taking forever to be shipped to me...but now that i see it, I remember ordering it! And it is just as cute as it was when I saw it in the pictures! :)

And look at that! It was made in Thailand! :) 

Check out my nail!! My bare nails! I am letting them "rest'"for a bit with no polish on them before I paint them tomorrow. I already cleaned, groomed, cut, and shaped them...I forgot to apply nail strengthener to them...but I will as soon as I finish this post. But I know that I want to paint them pink. But I will let them rest for the night.

I love my golden heart anklet...I like how it's simple and I like how it's a heart. I like hearts. :)

The Pineapple Hut.

Since it has been more than a week since I was able to see my friends...I decided to stop by and see my friends Jess and Ashley and even Jackie. Although, I did hear unsettling news that I didn't want to go to the school per say to see them, and so I asked them to me at the shopping center down the road from the school. Since I got out of school earlier than them two, I decided to stop by the Pet Store to get some medicine for my fish. I suspect that maybe BamBam Jr. might have fit rot and so just incase I wanted to get him some medicine. I know that I am not a fish doctor, but it seems like he has the beginnings of the fin rot and so I wanted to take care of it as much as I can.

While I was in the store, I saw that Ash had called me and told that they were in the parking lot already and so I made my way over to them and it was so good to see them. While there we saw one of my co-workers now who knows Ash and so they had a fun, short reunion. :) Ash and I then took Jess home and I stopped by the school after everyone but the closers were there so that I can see and speak to Jackie for a little bit.

When I saw Ash and Jess, it felt good to talk to them again. To be with them again. I miss them a lot and I miss seeing them everyday at work. I am happy at my new job...it is a slower paced so I don't know how I will be in the long run. But I am happy. I do text them everyday though and we talk every day though...but seeing them and seeing them felt really good.

When I saw them, Ash had told me that she had gotten me something. She got me an awesome jewelry set! Our friend Suki knows the owner of The Pineapple Hut...and while Ash was visiting Suki she saw the owner and decided to get matching heart jewelry for both of us!

And I absolutely adore it! I love it so much...! And I love bangles...and I love rings...and earrings...well, I do love my jewelry! So, I'm glad that she got for me. We like to get matching things for each other. I don't even know why...but I love it!

So I am getting quite a few bangles that I wear...and they are SOO me! My "Love" bangle is from my DollGirl and my sister...they gave me that one for Christmas and I rarely take it off. The mermaid bracelet I got for Ash and I...matching jewelry again...and mermaids are so me! And then my heart and shell bangle is also so me. I love them. I want to start a charm bracelet again. I use to love those and so I want to start them again. 

I am also starting to like gold a lot where as before I use to only like silver. *laughs* I still like wearing silver...but gold is now an option.

I really love the jewelry that Ash got me. I am so glad that I have them and I so glad that Ash and I have another matching jewelry. And it has an inside meaning to both of us. The heart...and yeah.

But for those of you who are reading this, I highly encourage you to check out The Pineapple Hut...I'm sure that you would find something that you would like. :)

Mermaid Sisters.

I forgot to mention yesterday that I met up with my friend Ashley after work. I was so good to see her. One thing that I like about this new place is that I can have my phone with me, and so texting Ash every so often really helped a lot when I would start missing her and everyone. It's going to take time getting used to everything new...but I think that I'm getting there...but for now, I was so glad that I saw Ash.

I needed to go to Ben Franklin's Craft...and so since I knew that it was just down the street from where the school is, I told her to come and meet and me we will grab something to eat before she went to go pick up her boys.

I love how at Ben Frankin's they have this area in from of the store they sell local craft and jewelry and I love looking at what they had...and guess what we saw?! We saw mermaid bangles! And so we got matching mermaid bangles! 

Of course, Ash only wears gold...as for me, I don't mind as long as I like it...and so she got a gold one and I got the copper one...and so we took a picture of it together. Dig our nails?! :)

Oh my goodness...I miss this girl already. I know for sure we need to hang out more!

Today, I had 10 kids come in. I think it's going to look like on Tuesdays and Thrusdays I will have 4 kids and on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I will have 10 kids...and so I got to meet EVERYONE today...and I have to say that I have a good, smart bunch. I do love how I can understand them when they talk! And boy, do they LOVE to talk! I love it...but one thing that I need to change is that they don't really like to sing! I so need to change that! I like to sing and so my goal is to get them to sing more. That is one thing I loved about my 2's is that I would hear them singing randomly and it is my goal to get my new kids to sing too. :)