Hawaii Here I Come!

Tomorrow morning, early, I will be on a plane headed to Hawaii!! I debated over just how I wanted to celebrate my 30th birthday this year. I thought about a trip to Hawaii, I thought about finally buying myself a motorcycle, but in the end I chose both. The motorcycle just happened. Totally unplanned.

The trip is specifically to celebrate my birthday even though I won't be there on my actual birthday (but really close).

We'll spend 5 nights on the north shores of:





Then we'll catch a puddle jumper over to another island to spend the next 5 nights at a luxurious resort (thanks to my grandma!) on the west coasts of:

WAHOO!!!

Oler Family Visit

I had a few more visitors from out of town come a week or so back (it took me a while to snag the pictures my mother took of them). Neil and Angelica Oler stopped by to say hi. As you can see from the picture Neil is always a good time! He managed to find a fabulous wife to match his personality.

Matthew (my nephew) with Angelica and Neil

They have 2 beautiful twin girls who I was able to meet for the first time. Adia and Evelyn. I've seen lots of pictures of them, but it was fun to finally see them and meet their own little personalities.

Ninja Destruction!

Last weekend I was invited to a 日本語 パーテー (Japanese Party). The invitation said I should arrive dressed in anything Japanese. So of course I took the opportunity to dress up as a ninja and play with cool swords. Anya and Robin went all out and completely decked out their apartment with all things Japanese. The food was great, the company fun, and the costumes fabulous. Here are some pictures from the party. All photo credits go to Molly (who did an amazing job!).

Erica ~ Windy

Book Review: The Dark is Rising Sequence

I recently reread The Dark is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper. It's a series of 5 books telling the story of the battle between the Light and the Dark for the freedom of mankind. They are chopped full of Authoritarian legends and grand adventures. This series is one of my all time favorites.

Over Sea, Under Stone (book one)
Rating: 5 starts out of 5
"it was amazing"

The 3 Drew children are on Holiday and find an old map in the attic that sends them on a quest to find an ancient artifact of the Light, King Aurthur's Grail. Lucky for them their 'Great Uncle' Merry (an Old One) is there to help protect them during their such as the Dark tries to stop them.


The Dark is Rising (book two)
Rating: 3 starts out of 5
"liked it"

Will Stanton is the last of the Old Ones to be born and completes the circle of the Light. This book tells the story of how Will finds out who he really is on his 11th birthday. He is the Sign Seeker and must find all 6 signs of power before the Dark does. Throughout his quest Will learns what it means to be an Old One and eventually comes into his full power to help fight back the Dark.

This is my least favorite of the series because I felt Will was just handed too much, but still a good book. This one happens to be my mothers favorite, so it's still a good book.

Greenwitch (book three)
Rating: 5 starts out of 5
"it was amazing"

The 3 Drew children: Simon, Jane, and Barney team up with Will Stanton on another Holiday. Merry has brought them all together at the time of the Greenwitch Ceremony to search for the missing manuscript (lost in book one). This is Jane's chance to really shine as her selflessness helps win the day.

The Grey King (book four)
Rating: 5 starts out of 5
"it was amazing"

Will Stanton is off to Wales to visit family while he recovers from a serious illness. While he's there he makes a new friend, Bran Davies, who is quite strange. Bran is albino, having white hair and no color in his skin, with strange tawny eyes. The locals fear his strangeness and are slow to be friends with him. This does not stop Will, they become instant friends and team up on Will's quest to find the Harp, another Thing of Power that belongs to the Light. In the middle of all that happens Bran discovers his own heritage, he is the son of King Aurthur brought out of time for protection. He is the Pendragon.

Silver on the Tree (book five)
Rating: 4 starts out of 5
"really liked it"

The 6 are brought together for the bang up finish. The six being the 3 Drew's, Will Stanton, Bran Davies, and Merry (who's full name is Merriman Lyon, but in Aurthur's day he was called Merlin). At this point the Light has 3 of the 4 Things of Power, they have the Grail, the Signs, and the Harp. This book tells of the journey to find the last, the Crystal Sword. Armed with all 4 Things of Power they will be ready to fight the final battle as the Dark comes raising.

In Memory of Les Paul

who passed away today at the age of 94.

Surprise Visit

My dear friend Beth unexpectedly visited Seattle this last week. I knew Beth from when she lived here years ago. Beth has since moved to Arizona and is much closer to her family there.

Monday I received a call from Beth saying she was visiting and wanted to know what my plans were for the rest of the day. I immediately changed my plans and we got together with a few other friends to hang out, talk, catch up and eat some dinner.

Wednesday we met up again and went canoeing at the arboretum where we discovered we were slightly better at maneuvering the canoe backwards than we were going forward. We somehow made it around and checked out a lot of cool sights. We took a few detours and explored some new areas. Our friend Jen came along and the 3 of us laughed and had a blast the whole time without tipping the canoe once.

After canoeing we found we'd worked up an appetite and headed over to u-village for some food. We stumbled upon what we decided is now our new favorite Italian restaurant! It's called Piatti Ristorante and Bar.

It was so much fun to see Beth this week, to hear her stories and to hear her laugh again.

Rebel

With a little encouragement from a friend I made big purchase today. I've wanted a motorcycle for a long time, I've even had my motorcycle endorsement for over 4 years now. The time finally came and everything worked out.

2002 Honda Rebel

And I'm pretty dang excited too!