Halloween 2012
We were a couple of lame-os this year and didn’t dress up or go out. We stayed in, carved our pumpkin and watched horrible “horror” movies. Lame!
Found these photos from a recent drive around the West Maui Mountains hiding on my camera.
Chicago!
Coming back to Chicago for the first time in almost a year was exciting and strange. It felt so familiar, as if we never left, but at the same time I was very aware it was no longer my home, and that was difficult to grasp. Hanging out with all our friends again was wonderful and when we landed back on Maui we definitely had to relive some of the same homesick feelings we experienced when we first moved here. If we could just convince everyone to move to Maui!
Cleveland!
I have always cherished my sweet Cleveland time. Our Vegas, Cleveland, Chicago, Glen Ellyn and Seattle trip in a little over a week was definitely a whirlwind. This visit was our first time out of the middle of the Pacific Ocean since we stepped foot on Maui back in August of last year. We spent about two days in each city, give or take a half of a day. Because of all of the running around, it was very important for me to take those little moments and try my hardest to make them turn into a lasting memory.
We walk in the door and my mom hands me twenty pounds of pork butt. Why not? Even though it took some convincing, we decided that just ten pounds of kalua pig would be enough for the family. My dad has a meat smoker, and he is great at using it. What do you call someone that is good at smoking meats? A smoker? That doesn’t sound right. Anyways, he is a pro smoker and in this case we gave the meat a good few hours of smoking before we put it in the crock pots to cook overnight. Wait, let me backtrack. My story isn’t quite fair. We didn’t exactly walk in the door and get meat handed to us. We picked up my favorite pizza of all time first and enjoyed it before I was given the task of hacking up the meat. Romito’s in Independence. Google it. Plan a trip to Independence, OH just for the pizza. It’s worth it! Thanks, mom for knowing how much I love it and making sure we had it on my first night back.
We served our kalula pig with jasmine rice and some traditional mac salad. As you can see, we were going for the Hawaiian “plate lunch” at our impromptu family get together. After hours of video games, time with family, Hawaii-inspired mixed drinks on the patio, and reviewing Jennie’s beautiful wedding pictures, we turned in for Cleveland Day Two.
Time to walk the dogs! It was a great little Metroparks hike with streams, waterfalls, and rocks to trip over. The temperature was perfect, and we felt so lucky to get a perfect Midwest summer day after all of the heatwaves we have been hearing so much about. We took the kids to lunch and I made Josh drive me to get some ice cream. He’s going to be great at driving! He’s so much better than I was when I started driving. I can’t believe he’s already 16. I feel so old. I changed this kid’s diapers. And…wait, and Adam is 10 now? I was there when he came into this world! Has it really been ten years? My brothers are growing up. I just have to accept it. It’s difficult, but that’s life. I love those kids.
Kent and I took Josh and Adam to a drive-in movie. There’s a great old school place not too far from my parent’s house, and we had the perfect spot, perfect snacks, and perfect company. It was the perfect summer night!
We decided to partake in some old family favorites before our trip to Chicago: The Art Museum, Mongolian BBQ, and Big Fun. It was a great few hours before being forced to wave our handkerchiefs in the warm Cleveland summer air.
Such a short time in Cleveland but I am happy we all had a lot of quality time together. I feel like we made lasting memories. As Kent and I enjoyed the sunset through the printed windows of the Megabus I was already planning my next trip back.
UFC 148
The first stop on our first trip back to the mainland was obviously Vegas. It was an immoral weekend of steak, booze, gambling and fighting… and that was just in our hotel room, ZING!
New seat
Bought a custom leather springer seat a few weeks ago and it finally arrived yesterday. One step closer to the bike I obsessively daydream about all day.
Bye bye stock seat.
Miso did absolutely nothing to help.
Miso!
As you might know, Darlene and I occasionally head down to feed the feral cats on the southern beaches. It’s dry, dusty and filled with thorns sharp and long enough to penetrate your shoe and up into your foot. Most of the cat colonies there are pretty wild and seem to do pretty good on their own but there was this one cat who was obviously an outsider. She was just as interested in our affection as she was the food and she lived in a different part of the woods, separate from the main colony.
We have wanted to take this cat for months but couldn’t due to the no pets clause in our lease. It was hard to leave her there on the beach but there wasn’t much we could do. Our landlord is a big animal lover and when she heard about our trips to the beach she came with a couple times and got to meet Miso. When we were there with her a couple nights ago, out of the blue she says “if you promise to keep her as an outdoor cat you can bring her home.” As much as we want Miso to be indoors with us we knew this was a great option for her!
The next day we went to the pet store and bought all the necessary things, including a big cage for her to spend the first couple weeks in. It’s going to be a slow process but we need to make sure she knows this is her home. I don’t think it will be a problem though, she is already very bonded to us, especially Darlene.
So anyway, we headed over to the beach that night, excited and nervous about bringing her home. Well, it wasn’t an issue because after waiting until dark Miso never showed up. We were so prepared for this moment and now it wasn’t going to happen. So the next night we headed back hoping for the best but I was feeling very pessimistic about it. Just as I said to Darlene “I don’t think we are ever going to see her again,” Miso comes trotting across the road, excited to see us.
She like to eat directly from the bag of food so we took a chance and placed it inside the carrier. The next thing we know, she has walked right in and the door was closed. A huge weight was lifted and Darlene finally had the cat she wanted so badly. I wanted a cat very badly too, but this was a really big moment for Darlene because she had already forged this incredible bond with Miso.
Last night, after gobbling up some canned food, she slept on the lanai in her giant cage right next to the sliding door. We both crammed ourselves onto the couch and slept for about an hour at a time, getting up to check on Miso any time she would meow at us. She handled the whole thing really well and has spent most of the day on Darlene’s lap. Friday we go to the vet and hope for the best.
Welcome home Miso!
One of the hardest things for Darlene to sell before we moved was her KitchenAid mixer because typically you stick with the same one for your entire life. However, selling her old mixer allowed her to finally get the color she wanted most… Pistachio! For her birthday I bought her the ice cream attachment, which has proven to be a dangerous acquisition for our beach bodies. Our first batch was classic chocolate chip and it was pretty much the best chocolate chip ice cream ever. Then Darlene made some strawberry for a friend’s birthday party. It was awesome. Last night I whipped up some chunky peanut butter with big chunks or dark chocolate and it is insanely good. The moral of the story is, good ice cream is super easy to make and I am no longer impressed by all those “fancy” ice cream places. Take that, fancy ice cream industry!
Our first batch of chocolate chip.
These are just a couple pretty photos Darlene took :)
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