Today is a big day

Obviously. Today is father's day. A day dedicated to celebrating our own daddies ... and now our husbands who have become fathers. But today is also a big day because it marks 2 years that we have been married. & within those two years, Vance and I have managed to 'adopt' two furbabies, move twice and go from drunken bar-hopping fools ... to parents.




And it's funny ... as soon as Brooke was born, it was instantaneous to see that she resembled Vance. My friends call her his twin. While her looks are changing (we'll see who she ends up looking like later), she has his hair color. His long eyelashes. The color of his eyes. (Well not quite-- Vance's are really light brown and Brooke's are a steely-grey color) She may have my dimples and some say the shape of my eyes ... but she is so clearly a miniature replica of him.

As I previously mentioned, I love baby names. I obsess over baby names & we're not pregnant, let alone trying to have another baby. But as soon soon as Vance latched onto the name Brooke-- that was the end of the discussion on his part. He simply knew. Even though she was unnamed for a day or so (I couldn't commit)-- I asked him, "So what do you think?" ... he looked at her and said "Her name is Brooke." And so it was.


Tell me the picture on the left doesn't make you laugh!?


And so today ... we celebrate our daddies. And our husbands who are daddies. Happy father's day.

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I can't believe it's been two years since we walked down the aisle. It feels like a lifetime ago ... anyway, in honor of our anniversary, here is a video from our photographer.

Dear summer. . .

We love you so. We love taking long walks at the park ...


having friends over for Chinese take out...

dinners at the golf course and hitting balls at the driving range after ...

walking around the mall and enjoying dinosaur displays ...

getting free balloons from Nordstrom ...

... still enjoying my Nordstrom balloon...

oh, and everyone needs a ball popper, doncha think? Vance and I both had one as kids

Brooke is 13 months. Seems surreal to me, but I can tell she's getting older every day. For one thing, she's not a round ball anymore ... she's definitely taller and her rolls are slowly disappearing. She is learning quickly too-- she seems to pick up something new every day and likes to mimic things we do. Like if you rub your hands together after putting on antibacterial gel, what does Brooke try to do? Rub her hands together as she watches you. And just the other day, Vance's mom was drumming her fingernails on the dining table, only to catch Brooke gently tapping her hands on her high chair as though she was playing a piano. She's starting to talk too, which is absolutely crazy. She can say balloon [boon], fish, light (anything that ends in T, but she will point to a light and say it), woof woof (dog), down, mama, milk (sounds absolutely nothing like milk) and can point to her ear or nose if you ask her (though she interchanges these often). She waves at random people in the grocery store and can 'smile' on cue. She brings books to me all day and waits for me to read them to her ... and will still identify books off of the shelf if you start reading them out loud to her.

On another note, our official countdown to Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto and Goofy has started!!

Summer [edit]

Mmkay. . . I am editing my previous post because I stole an idea from someone who makes collages on her blog, which I LOVE! It makes life so much easier :)

Also, Taylor is having another giveaway!

My start to summer so far...

We bought Brooke crocs this past week. She loves em! We also bought her 2 pairs of these shoes, which Vance thinks are hilarious because everytime she walks all you hear is 'squeak! squeak!' At least we'll always know where she is now..

One of my best friends came home for a wedding and I actually left the house AFTER ten pm. And yes, we still play beer pong even though we graduated from college 4 years ago (where is time going?!)

Then they came over for pizza & wine ... mmm


B took a fall outside one day when we were walking around ... face --> concrete. It's healing quite nicely now, but she had some battle scars for a few days... poor thing.

Hope you all are having a great summer so far!

Lucky you live Hawaii

"Lucky you live Hawaii" is a saying popular among locals ... it's funny to refer to myself as a "local" from Hawaii, even though Vance & I were both born and raised here. We are lucky though-- and we too often take for granted the beauty that surrounds us. Most people can only dream of living on an island like Oahu, but when you get to the daily bump and grind of things ... you often forget to appreciate the things that once took your breath away.

However, island life isn't exactly as most would expect it to be. For example, we don't ALWAYS have nice weather. It rains a lot during the winter seasons. (Instead of snow, we get rain) In fact, in 2006 it rained for over 40 consecutive days. And contrary to popular belief, it DOES get cold in Hawaii. . . just not as cold as the mainland. (It can get down to the low 60s when it's really "cold"... I'm sure those of you who live in the mainland are laughing at this comment. And yes, I've lived in the mainland. And I freezed my butt off!) And it is pricey to live here. A typical house in our neighborhood goes for $400,000-$500,000.


Nevertheless, it is gorgeous here. We are surrounded by family and friends. We dress in t-shirts, shorts and slippers year round. And if we want to go to the beach in the middle of December... well, we can jump in a car and drive half an hour to the North Shore!

Here are some pictures of our beautiful home :)

View from Diamond Head


Ko'olina sunset (during a wedding)


Driving down Hawaii Loa Ridge


Ko'olina for a Taste of Kapolei ... look how tiny and BALD Brooke was!

Sunset during A Taste of Kapolei

Views from Ihilani hotel room: