Tidbits

So this post is going to be a giant mind dump, in no particular order, of what has been going on here.  Warning: lots of pictures.

It seems as though the past few weeks have flown by but I can't really recall anything significant that we seem to have accomplished.  We are getting a little more comfortable here and starting to finally put our house together.  We are also finally starting to establish a daily routine which is good because I am completely lost without some sort of structure in the day.

If you have ever been to Maui you know that shopping is limited, especially in the home goods department.  You have every store under the sun that end in "mart"and Pier 1.  Everyone told me to scour Craigslist because of the high turn over on the island.  I check CL regularly but let me tell you...people want two arms and a leg for JUNK.  Stuff that would be on the Spokane CL for $10 pr less, people here want $50++++!!  It is absolutely crazy.  Needless to say I haven't found much of anything on CL.  I guess I will wait for Pier 1 to have their after Thanksgiving and Christmas sales and pick up the remaining items we need.

Found this cool Fox Tail Fern at Home Depot.

Franklin re-injured his the repaired leg about ten days ago.  His leg was HUGE and the swelling lasted for about five days.  We had our first trip to the vet since being here.  I was really hoping to skip the vet for at least a year given all the vet trips we made leading up to the move.  The outcome of his eight gazillion dollar trip was that he essentially suffered a partial tear of his hamstring and basically needed a lot of drugs and to lay low.  So, that is what we are doing.  

Not a good photo but his leg was about three times the size of the of the "good" leg.

Injured dogs only get to hang out at the beach.  No play for the big guy.

The rest of the gang is doing great with the exception of Cooper who seemes to have woken up with hot spots.  There are a enough home remedies I can try so I think we will be able to avoid a trip to the vet with him.  Ellee Mae is still lazy and Paisley is still wild.  Not much has changed with those ladies.  And for those of you wondering about the cats, well, they love the warm, sunny weather and sleeping on the tile floor in front of the sliders.  Milo and Jimmy rarely venture away and always seem to be around.  Lilly comes home about once a week to visit us and the rest of the time she spies on us from a secret hiding spot that we have yet to discover.  

Her Granny sent her a new toy.  She was pretty thrilled about it because it had a squeeker.

Keeper of the ball.

Dog of shame.  She rolls in the sand every.single.time. she gets in the water.

Jimmy has settled in nicely.  Typical day in this cats life.

I have been slow to getting back into cooking and baking.  It seems like more of a hassel here.  For one everything is so expensive.  Flour is around $6 a pound and eggs are about $5.50 a dozen.  Butter runs about the same, so you get the idea.  The other hassel is that you have to seal everything up right away or else the bugs come.  Perhaps I am just lazy but it takes as much time to drag everything out as it does to make and bake the items.  I did make snickerdoodles the other day for my dad and realized that I did not have any mixing bowls and that hand mixers are hunks of junk.  Oh, I also made Ron banana bread but had to make it in a pie pan because I realized that I didn't have a bread pan.  He doesn't know the difference.

Banana Bread.

Most of the weekends are spent at the beach.  We go to the "white people's" beach where all the tourists are at.  It feels more like home than the local areas.  In the more local areas, we tend to be the only white folks and often get mistaken for lost tourists.  That is generally not a good scenario to have happen.

Saw this little guy right at the shoreline last weekend in Napili.  He was SO cute.  Spent at least 3 hours watching him.

In other interesting news, a paddle boarder was bitten by a tiger shark over the weekend at the beach closest to our house.  He didn't die but was injured badly.  Don't worry we don't swim in that water anyway---it extremely deep right off the shore with lots of rocks.  

Oh and if you want a simple, light dinner or lunch, try this recipe.  I make it in large quantities once a week for Ron to nibble on for lunch.  He gives it five stars.  Luckily for me it is super easy.

via

There you have it.  Have a great rest of the week!

Courtney

and then we lost our minds

Recently we were presented with a fantastic opportunity to live in Maui for a few years and for my husband to be able to keep his job.  Of course we are thrilled, I mean, who wouldn't be.  After the excitement settled in, I started doing a little bit of research and planning which turned into the whole, what are we getting ourselves into panic.

Don't get me wrong, we are still over the moon about the opportunity but now that the dust has begun to settle, I am working out the logistics that are required for such a large move.  The first hurdle is "shipping" seven animals, ensuring no one dies and successfully making it through the handbook of quarantine requirements.  I'm pretty sure we both had sticker shock after we added up all of the various "shipping" and quarantine expenses.  Hell, we have $500 worth of dog kennels sitting in our bedroom right now that they won't even enter!  Then comes the question of what to do with our house--hold onto it or sell it, the living situation in Maui, our family and aging grandparents, and well the list goes on and on.  Some days I am totally on the fence about it but fear that I would regret not jumping on it (which I think would end being the case), while other days I am inspired and ready for the challenge.  I suppose these are the realities of someone consumed by wanderlust.

This past week/end we began the first step of the rabies quarantine process (Hawaii is a rabies free state which is why you have go to through this rigamarole).  We took the seven animals to the vet in two trips and everyone got their rabies shots.  I am pretty sure the vet staff thinks we are nuts.  I was only able to snap the few pictures below because the dogs were out.of.control. and they required the use of two hands at all times.

...and we're off...screaming and growling!

Husband providing moral support (I don't "do" shots).

This is seconds before he chomped down on my finger while trying to escape.

Our target move date is September and there is so much to get done between now and then---all very exciting and scary!  I'll share details as things move along.

weekend + a tasty soup

Sticking to my goals for 2012, I dusted off the camera and packed it around in my bag this weekend.  Friday, I spent part of the day reviewing this tutorial on the basics of understanding your DSLR camera.  Amanda, of Kevin & Amanda has put together an easy to use, simple, informative tutorial to help you understand the basics of your camera.  I found it incredibly helpful which got me back into the shooting of things!   It's not that I don't know how to use the camera, I just needed a quick refresher on what the heck all the buttons do!  I can take pretty darn good photos in natural light, but indoors and at night is another story.  Every. Single. Photo is blurry.

As usual, I followed the dogs....and cats around the house, the park and outside taking hundreds of photos.  I am pretty sure they were annoyed.  So, I'll spare you the hundreds of photos and show you just a handful.

Jimmy

Paisley

Milo

Ellee Mae

Franklin

Franklin + Ellee Mae

So that was that.  Yes, I am missing a photos of one dog and one cat.  The one cat, I am pretty sure has never been on this little blog because she is frightened of her own shadow.  The one dog, Cooper, well, he was way, way too busy playing with his ball to hold still and be photographed.

******

Moving right along to this recipe.  This is the second time I have made this Ravioli and Vegetable Soup and the husband LOVES it.  I made it again last night at his request and apparently while I was sleeping he was up snacking on it at midnight.

I should mention that it is incredibly easy to make and can be made ahead of time and it only uses one pot!  It has great flavor with a bit of heat from the tomatoes and crushed red peppers.  It doesn't take too tomato-y either (I don't like tomatoes, but I like this soup).  If you're making for the kiddos, I would leave out the peppers and use regular tomatoes because I think it is really spicy (in a good way).

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cups frozen bell pepper and onion mix, thawed and diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper, or to taste (optional)
• 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes, preferably fire-roasted
• 1 15-ounce can vegetable broth or reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups hot water
• 1 teaspoon dried basil or marjoram
• 1 6- to 9-ounce package fresh or frozen cheese (or meat) ravioli, preferably whole-wheat
• 2 cups diced zucchini, (about 2 medium)
• Freshly ground pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add pepper-onion mix, garlic and crushed red pepper (if using) and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add tomatoes, broth, water and basil (or marjoram); bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Add ravioli and cook for 3 minutes less than the package directions. Add zucchini; return to a boil. Cook until the zucchini is crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Season with pepper.

That's all.  Happy Martin Luther King day!

weldon

Drum roll please.....now introducing, Weldon, the dog-like cat!  Weldon was a hand-me-down to my parents from my grandparents (long story).  This one year old beast is the feistiest 7lb, four-legged feline you will ever meet.  In fact, so beastly that I'm pretty sure he thinks he is invincible--he is afraid of nothin', including big growling dogs and fast moving cars.

                                                             wapping the camera...nice!

The coolest thing about this cat is his ability to fetch.  No joke.  This cat will fetch a ball like a dog, bring it back to you and drop it at your feet.  He will play like a mad man until he begins to pant uncontrollably and hang his tongue out of the side of his mouth.  Its unreal.  I would have photographed one of his play sessions but he is currently hiding all of his balls in an undisclosed location.

Isn't he cute?

meow.

This is Milo. He is our devilish tuxedo cat and has a bad attitude about life. He kills birds and mice for a living He thinks fighting is the answer to his problems. He has apparently been mislead judging from the wounds on his nose. Meow.