Friday Favorites

1.  White Chocolate Peppermint Popcorn

So I've already confessed my obsession love for peppermint ice cream.  Just thought I'd mention this fabulous little treat.  I can't remember where I originally got this recipe years ago but here is a version that is pretty close to mine (except I also add 2 teaspoons of peppermint extract to the melted chocolate)

I love to make these for neighbors or teachers.  In fact, I just made a big batch today to send with the boys for their teachers tomorrow.  That's the problem........it's so yummy that it's a guarantee I will eat it all up.  I must give it away.  

2.  Victoria Secret Gold Glitter Backpack

A day or so before I left for the honeymoon, I made some last minute purchases.  I received a few Victoria Secret gift cards so I headed over there to see what damage I could cause.  Earlier that day, I reminded myself that I really needed to keep my eye out for a cute backpack....that I could use as a personal carry on for the plane (instead of a big purse) and still be something I could use while on excursions, etc.  I found this gold glitter backpack and instantly fell in love.  (for some reason they do not have the gold listed on the color options.  It's much cuter than this blue one in my opinion.)  I brought it home later that day and received a less than average response from sweet boy.  (I mean really?  What does he know??)  The day we left for LA, I had 2-3 people in the airport mention how cute it was, ask me where I got it, etc....  Of course I had to use this as an opportunity to rub this in his face because the little ole' backpack that he rolled his eyes at became a pretty big hit on our vacay.  This became a fun little joke between us that week.

3.  Raising Canes

So they recently opened a Raising Cane's near our house and I must say that the chicken fingers here are really good.  They taste very fresh.  I'm pretty picky about chicken/meat and it passes the test!

4.  Colored Jeans

I definitely jumped on the "colored jeans" trend a while back and I can honestly say that I LOVE the options you get with them.

5.  Bumble and Bumble Thickening Spray

Awesome.  Nuff said.

So, what are some of your favorite things?  

Happy Friday!!

The Stockings Were Hung.....

The last few days I think I have subconsciously been putting off the entire Christmas thing.  We got back from Oklahoma on Saturday night and then spent Sunday picking up around here, doing laundry, etc.... so it was pretty easy to convince myself that it wasn't a good day to drag it all out.  The boys started asking......and I said that we would do it later in the week.  Kids really are such a blessing because without them it would probably still be in the attic!

While the boys were at school today, Shawn and I got the tree and all the boxes down.  I started praying about this this morning- that I would be able to find joy in this process, that I wouldn't ruin the moment by crying like a baby in front of the boys, that I would appreciate my new life and where God has placed me.  You know what?  I did just that.

Right as we were unboxing the ornaments, one of my best friends texted me about something and happened to ask how I was doing.  I quickly explained what was going on and that I was starting to feel anxious as I knew the box containing ornaments and his stocking were just a few feet away from me.  She texted back....."I'm covering you in prayer."  And she was.  As so many others have been for such a long time.  While I know that most people were not aware of the exact time we got the tree stuff out today, there are hundreds that know how this situation has been on my heart and that I have been nervous about doing it.  (if you remember, last year we avoided it all and just bought some simple stuff from Target so I didn't have to deal with the emotions of seeing it )  So many have prayed for us as this holiday season draws near because in many ways the pain still feels raw.

The four of us managed to hang every ornament (we did leave a few off and they are boxed up for the boys for later down the road) and create a beautiful tree......that represents years and years of wonderful memories.  We were even able to add new ones (thanks to my precious preschool class!) so in many ways the ornaments represent the past and present.  I'm excited to see what the future holds for our little family.

I kept Jason's stocking inside the box and silently hung the rest of them.  I realized then that Shawn would need a stocking to match ours.  Later this evening, I got online and discovered that this pattern is no longer available at Potterybarn.  Rats.  If you know me then you know that this won't work.  It would bother me to have them not matching.  I decided to jump on Ebay.....hoping I could find a plain (non monogrammed) stocking to match ours.  I decided to type in "potterybarn stocking shawn" inside the search box.  And guess what I found?  The EXACT stocking I was looking for (the same one that Jason had) and it already had the name SHAWN monogrammed in the same exact font and color as the rest of ours.  Coincidence? I think not.

I plan to post a few pics of the tree and a few of our favorite ornaments (and eventually the stockings) as soon as I get the Blogger issue resolved.  Ugh.  I really can't stand technology sometimes!

So, thank you again for everyone that has and continues to pray for us.  I feel it all the time!!

Pardon this interruption......

Last week I started to download the final round of honeymoon pictures when Blogger informed me that I was over my photo limit.  I've heard of this happening to people but I didn't have the time to figure out what to do about it.  It mentioned some sort of payment options but that is about as far as I got.  I had to get laundry finished and then pack the family up for our Thanksgiving travels.  I hope to have it all figured out this week.

I do want to mention that this past week was a tough one for me.  I started to feel anxious about Thanksgiving towards the end of the honeymoon.  I did expect it to be hard and sure enough I found myself in a big slump. I guess I was coming off the wedding/honeymoon high.  Monday night I was tired and jet lagged......and I sat in bed and cried because I really missed Jason.  I am so thankful that I am married to someone that understands....and wants the communication door to be open.  He encourages me to talk about my grief and share my feelings.  And so I do....as weird and surreal as it may be sometimes.

I was explaining to him that last Thanksgiving was a big fat blur.  I was numb.  I sort of think it hurts worse this year.  I've heard people say that the second year is often harder than the first.  I had no idea what that really meant but in some ways I think they might be right.  The hard core reality has set in.  He's gone forever.

To top it off.....Jason's birthday fell on Thanksgiving Day this year.  Double whammy.  I find that there are so many aspects to grief.  I miss the physical Jason but I miss my former life too.  While this Thanksgiving was fun and special in it's own way.....it was very different from what Thanksgivings have looked like in the past.

I find myself conflicted at times because I am one blessed girl.  I have so so much to be thankful for.  But that still doesn't take away the pain or replace the void that is forever there.  I have to remind myself often that I will more than likely have 2 different sets of emotions with every part of my life from here on out.  Sadness and joy at the same time.  So, I am trying to focus on the joy.....and being thankful for all the blessings in my life.

Honeymoon Part Deux

 I've always wanted to try the stand up paddle board.  The resort had lots of free water sports available so we decided to give it a shot.  Lots of fun!

 Jumping off the ledge of our hut.  So cool.

 Shawn decided to snorkel near our hut so he swam underneath and I was inside the living room and took this picture from the glass bottom window under the coffee table.

 There were lots of great restaurants to choose from but one night we decided to stay comfy and casual and order in.  They brought our food and decorated our outside table with flowers, a table cloth, candles, etc... This place is top notch and took care of us in every way.

 This is on the other side of the mountain......the peak looks completely different.

 Candle light dinner on the beach.

 There is not a single thing that this resort lacked (in beauty, service, detail, etc...) except for the food.  Now, if you ask Shawn he would tell you that the food was amazing.  But I'm picky and simple and a creature of habit.  I do not easily try octopus ravioli or the gut of a pig.  Lots of fancy smancy foods but I will say that I struggled a bit here.  Breakfast each morning was amazing.  Huge buffet with lots of fresh fruit, juices, waffles, breads, etc...  The other meals were very heavy on the seafood side...which I do not do.  One would think that I would have lost a good 10 pounds or so but unfortunately this was not the case.  I'm pretty confident those frozen pina coladas were not calorie free.  :)

 The resort had one business center with 3 computers.  It was soooo amazing to check out from every bit of technology while we were gone.  I turned my phone off in LA and didn't turn it back on until we returned to LA.  Shawn did have a loaner phone with international options so that we could text and check in on the boys every other day.  That was it!  Except.....sweet boy had to make one change on his fantasy football lineup so we came here to do that. Priorities, right?

 We went to the main island and did a jet ski/ATV combo excursion.  Oh my.....both were amazing!

 Words and pictures can't even describe how beautiful this place is. The water was such a mixture of blues and greens.

 Stopping off at a remote area

 Our guide got coconuts, pineapples and bananas and cut them all up for us to have a little snack.  This is about as fresh as it gets!

 Shaving the coconut

 On the ATV tour we went to several lookout points.  Once again, amazing views.

 This was one of the original "hut style" resorts that was built back in the early 70's.  It closed down a few years ago because it could no longer keep up with the newer resorts.

 The water taxi/boat that took us to and from the main island.

 Sweet boy is a big fan of sushi......and guess what?  I'm not!  Ha!!  But, I was a good sport and ordered some edemame and veggie rolls.  He did get me to take a few tiny bites of his.....which I did....all the while making yucky faces.  I'm thinking that sushi is an acquired taste?

 The sushi restaurant

 On Wednesday night, they had a Polynesian show.  

.........to be continued!

Honeymoon

So it will be impossible to post every picture we took while we were gone but it's also hard to choose only a few.  You may get tired of seeing them.....but I do want to put lots on here so I can remember what we did while we were there.

It is a looooong way to Bora Bora.  3 planes and a boat ride to be exact.  We decided on the way there to stay one day in LA so that we could break the travel up a little bit and get adjusted some to the time difference.  The Tahitian Islands do not observe daylight savings so this time around it was only a 4 hour time difference (in the spring/summer it's 5)  We took a trolley down to Manhattan Beach from LA and walked around and ate dinner there.  Very pretty.

 Just landed in Tahiti....an 8 hour flight from LA.

 An aerial view of Bora....about a 50 minute plane ride from Tahiti.

 Once you land in Bora, the resorts have staff members that greet you and take your luggage.  You get on their boat and it takes about 20 minutes or so to get to the resort.

 On the boat....seeing the huts for the first time.  We were in awe.

 If you have seen Couples Retreat then you might remember this shot.  They actually changed this sign for the movie- it said "Eden" on it.

 The lobby

 We got to Bora around 8am and our bungalow wasn't quite ready.  They had us eat breakfast and then gave us a nice tour of the property.  This was the restaurant where we had breakfast each morning..

 ...and this was the view.  Seriously breathtaking.

 One of the restrooms- I thought these wood carvings were really neat.

 The restroom stalls were on the left side (you can't see them in this pic) and they each had a private door.  But then the sink area was outside...protected a little by this stone wall but you could feel a breeze.  It was really cool.

 The main pool

 With swim-up bar

 Looking around the property

 Around 10am, our room was ready.  They have golf carts to drive you around wherever you want to go.  You can certainly walk....but the property is very spread out so most of the time we would call to be picked up.  Yes, we are officially rotten from this trip!!

 Inside our hut

 In the living room......there is a glass bottom in the floor under the coffee table.

 Our balcony.....perfect spot to catch some sun in private.

 Right outside our room, we had views of the famous Mount Otemanu.  Gorgeous!!

 The bathrooms were huge.....seriously bigger than my bathroom at home.  The shower was an open concept......yep, no walls or doors.  Fully exposed.  Took me a bit to get used to.

 We were surprised at how large the huts were....around 1500 sq feet.

 Our first night at dinner

 They had bikes you could use to ride around on.  This was so much fun and a great way to check the resort out.

 Heading to the lagoon to snorkel

 Those dark things in the water are the corral heads.  You could snorkel around them and see lots of beautiful fish.

 Ready to go!

 While snorkeling, we watched them feed the fish.....basically we snorkeled and they fed them right around us.  Then we walked over to where they keep several sharks and watched them feed those as well.

 The Lagoon Restaurant had these glass floors where you could see the sharks and fish underneath.

Eating lunch.

Lots more to share......