Another Haircut for Lilo

Because I can't get enough of Lilo's before & afters

(and hopefully you can't either)

here is another one.

Before (taking her to the groomer)



After (taking her home after the groomers)



The question is, which hair style is more ridiculous?

(This is where "The Professor" AKA Stephen steps in)

Keep in mind that Lilo is essentially ridiculous, meaning that it is an attribute that if taken away, Lilo would cease being Lilo. If I took the redness from a rubber ball, a ball would still exist because redness is not an essential attribute to the ball or any ball. Redness to a ball (and if taken farther, color on anything) is what philosophers call an "accidental" attribute. As for essential attributes, a bachelor has two essential attributes: one must be both unmarried and a male. An Asian unmarried male is just as much a bachelor as a hispanic unmarried male, for the attributes of "asian" and "hispanic" are accidental or non-essential to bachelorship. So essential attributes are things required by definition of a certain object or substance, whereas accidental or non-essential attributes are not required by the definition of a certain object or substance.

But back to Lilo. Ridiculousness is an essential attribute to Lilo. Without this attribute Lilo is no longer Lilo. She is necessarily ridiculous. There exists no possible world where Lilo, if existing, will not be ridiculous. Just like there is no possible world where adding all the angles of any four-sided shape (quadrilaterals) does not equal 360 degrees or the angles of a triangle not add up to 180 degrees. We might as well make Lilo a Euclid axion.

The question then becomes, which hair style exemplifies the essential attribute of ridiculousness in Lilo?

I will let your philosophical minds meditate on that.

(Thanks for the lesson Professor!)

PS I also found our silly cat Giselle sleeping like this today.



PPS My parents are coming tomorrow! It's a good thing they like The Professor, ridiculous dogs and silly cats.

What We Do

When Stephen's family was all here we did a lot of time at the beach, the pool and Waikiki.

Though we love spending time with family, we are not much beach, pool or Waikiki people.

Or as Stephen's dad said "We would like to do things you like to do, but you guys don't really like the sun or the water."

So what do we like to do?

Well I'll give you a little taste by telling you what we have done our last 2 Saturdays.

Last Saturday we got up early and went to Honolulu for a library book sale.

We always try to get there a few minutes before it starts to get first picks.

(Yes I realize this is very nerdy)

We LOVE library book sales.

Our movers will not feel the same way.

We bought about 18 books for $25.

Then, since we were somewhat near chinatown, we decided to go and get cupcakes....at 10:30am.

(It's never too early for a good cupcake...right?)

Unfortunately it was closed for some reason.

Then we decided to walk to a nearby wine store so Stephen could get a bottle of Chardonnay he likes.

Then I remembered that there was a good bubble tea place nearby and we walked to that so I could get one.

(They don't taste all that great, but I get one every once in a great while just for fun)

Then we saw a little cake shop and Stephen got a slice of cheesecake.

Then we drove to the home brewing store so Stephen could pick up ingredients for more beer.

After that we went a home and brewed beer.

Obviously this is not what every Saturday is like but you get the general idea.

Now this Saturday, we got up early to go to a new open market nearby with the hope that it would have cool stuff but the expectation that it would be lame.

(We have gone to a LOT of open/farmers markets and most have been lame)

This one was lame.

Only a few booths and most selling junk.

We did get some tasty Hawaiian sweet bread.

I was really excited about this because I had been craving french toast.

Then we went home and I made french toast and we watched Tarzan.

Yes, Tarzan, the animated Disney movie.

I really like Disney and animated movies in general.

Not to mention there is something so fun in watching cartoons on a Saturday morning while eating french toast.

Then Stephen took a nap while I, like the nerd I am, made this:





It's a 19th century British literature timeline.

I told you I was a nerd.

I am a very visual learner and I wanted to get an idea of what works were written when and who influenced who and who were contemporaries and so on.

It shows the birth and death of all (that I could think of) important authors of the time and I put dots for when their works were published.

Then Stephen got up from his nap and spent the day with his favorite things:



A book, a cat and a glass of wine.

He read an entire book on the philosophy of music.

He's a nerd too.

(Are you seeing a theme yet?)

While he did that I edited wedding pictures and cleaned the kitchen.

And that is what our weekends are generally like.

Sometimes we go to dinner and a movie.

Sometimes we go to a coffee shop and read.

Sometimes we go out with friends.

So as you see, we do many different things.

And most not involving the water or the sun :o)

A short lived daydream

We came across a listing of this house and farm land in North Carolina about a year ago.

We instantly fell in love.

It was our dream house/farm.

We had always talked about how we would like to live in the Carolinas (not that either of us had been there, but it always seemed like a nice place to live)

The house is a really cute recently remodeled 2000 sq ft 3 bedroom with 2.5 bath.

The land is 17 acres.

There are fenced pastures (for our mini cow and goats of course)

A chicken coop.

A greenhouse.

A large pond for the dogs and kids to play in.

11 acres of forest land to play in.

A creek.

A barn.

A shed with electricity and running water for Stephen to brew in.

It was perfect.

But being that we live in Hawaii we thought no more of it.

Till yesterday.

Yesterday, just for kicks, I looked it up again.

I was shocked to find it was still for sale.

And now for only $235,000!

I looked through the pictures again and fell in love again.

I sent a text message to Stephen to tell him it was still for sale and "only" 37 miles from the Army post Ft. Bragg.

He called me and that is when the craziness started.

We actually started talking about the possibility of buying the house!

That's right, buying a house that we have never seen, in a state we have never been to, near a post we may not be assigned to.

Oh the madness!

We talked on the phone 3-4 times that day talking about how we could work it.

We both got pretty excited.

I just kept saying "This is madness!"

But in the few hours this daydream went on we planned our future and it was beautiful.

We envisioned our kids playing Robin Hood in the woods, ice skating on the pond in the winter, selling homemade cheese and butter at the local farmers market, putting in built in bookcases with a sliding ladder, having a crazy amount of animals...

Then Stephen called the realtor and found out that the house is pretty much sold.

It was tragic as we watched our daydreams crumble away.

But maybe someday we will find an even better dream house/farm that wouldn't be such madness to buy.

(Here's the link if you want to see just how perfect this place is)

http://www.carolinaforestry.com/north-carolina/johnston/ww/home-and-land-for-sale-north-carolina.html

Wolfe Whirlwind

Hey everyone!

Well the Wolfe family has come and gone and like always it was a fun and crazy whirlwind of a time.

The big BBQ at our place went well.

The wedding was lovely.

The week of hanging out at the beach and pool with family was fun.

It is going to take me a while to edit all the pictures.

I took about 350 at the wedding alone.

But here is a sneak peak at a couple of wedding pictures I have edited.

(Just a reminded, you can click on the picture to see it full size)

The groom and his groomsmen.



The bride and her bridesmaids.



My favorite part of "event" or "candid" photography is catching glimpses of looks and emotions that you would never get in a posed picture.

These two are my favorite pictures (so far)

I love how Michael is looking at Patti.



I love how Patti is looking at Michael.



Ah...so romantic.

More to come.

Soon...

..ish

Randomness

So I have a bunch of random pictures that I thought I would finally post about.

So this will be a collage I guess of the past couple months.

On 4th of July weekend we went to a polo game.



Haven't ever been to a polo game?

You are so missing out!

It is pretty awesome.

I am always amazed at how they can gallop down the field and hit a tiny (its only baseball sized!) ball with a big mallet and not hurt themselves or the horses.

The polo field is really pretty too.



On the other side of those palm trees is the beach.

Most people just come to the game to tailgate and drink.



Notice all the people with their backs turned to the field.

I enjoy watching it though.

Here is another random picture.



Yep, Lilo (the Genius) got herself stuck in a vine supporter.

Then she got that stuck to the wire fence around our plants.

It was pretty pathetic.

This picture probably seems even more random.



(Note: I didn't intend to look so menacing with the rolling pin)

But there is a reason why I am dressed as a 50s housewife months away from Halloween.

Our church had its biannual talent show/dress up night.

Stephen HATES dressing up so he just wore all black with a name tag that said "Miles Davis" and carried around a trumpet.

It was a good time.

The baby shower I was in charge of was last week.

It went really well but in the busyness of running the shower I completely forgot to take pictures.

So I took some picture of the decorations at home.

The baby shower was for my friend April who is having a baby girl named Helena.

This was the main decoration piece.



I took the "shower" part of baby shower as my inspiration.

Also the idea of "showering with love".



Though during the shower one of the ladies said "What a cute idea! April showers!'



I hadn't even thought of that!



So it worked on multiple levels.

After the shower I took the decoration home and changed it so it just said "Helena" and April is going to put it up in her nursery.

Here is the center piece that I put on each table.







Stephen recently made a new batch of beer for the upcoming big Wolfe wedding.

I was especially excited about this because I make cookies with the "spent" grains (the grains that get seeped and then tossed when making beer).

(Recipe found here: http://www.omnomicon.com/spent-grain-cookies)



This batch was especially good because the grains were really dark with a chocolate flavor to them.

I also recently bought this:



(You can get one too at: urbancheesecraft.etsy.com)

And made this with it:





(That is ricotta cheese by the way)

It was pretty easy and tasted really good.

It was funny because I gave Stephen a taste of it and before he said anything I thought "He probably has never tasted ricotta cheese that hasn't been baked in some casserole or lasagna".

Sure enough he said "Um..it tastes kinda plain"

I had to explain to him that ricotta is a very mild cheese and that is how its supposed to taste.

I made some tasty ricotta gnocchi with it.

It was also cool to have all the whey that was left over from making the cheese.

"No whey!" - that's what my dork of a husband said when I told him that.

Whey is very high in protein and very healthy.

I used it and the some of the spent grains to make this bread:



I also use some whey when I make rice or oatmeal.

I froze the left over whey in ice trays and add a cube or two to my smoothies.

So that is all the randomness for now.

I may not be posting for a little while, next week the whole Wolfe family is here and then 2 weeks after that my parents are here and then 2 weeks after that I go to Napa for my friend's wedding.

It's a busy time of year for me.

If only I weren't so popular...

What we've been up to

Well I know it's been awhile.

I have been trying all week to post a video and I cant seem to get it too work, which is really sad.

I will keep trying.

But until then I will let you know what we've been up to.

I turned this:



Into this:



And this:



Into this:



Both turned out pretty good.

I have recently been sucked into Pinterest.

If you don't know what Pinterest is,

I'm warning you,

once you start,

there is no going back.

It's wonderful and helpful but oh so addicting.

Also I have been busy getting ready for a baby shower I am putting together for a friend at church.

At first I was nervous because I have never done a baby shower before.

Then...my inner Martha Stewart monster came out.

I had a spark of an idea and then went a little overboard from there.

I'll be sure to take some pictures.

Also I have been busy getting things ready for the BIG day!

What BIG day you ask?

Why the wedding of course!

Whose wedding?

Stephen's Dad is finally marrying his long time girlfriend Patti here in Hawaii.

They started dating at the same time Stephen and I did.

Though Stephen beat him to the aisle by a few years.

So the whole Wolfe pack will be flying out here for the wedding and we are going to have the big rehearsal dinner at our house.

It should be fun...as long as my Martha Stewart Perfectionist monster doesn't come out.

Stephen's been really busy at work and trying to keep up with his homework.

He is working on his Masters degree in International Relations online.

I am a terrible distraction to him.

I just hate spending all day Saturday around the house while he does homework.

Especially now that our time in Hawaii is starting to come to an end.

We'll be leaving in about 4 months.

Suddenly I feel like I need to do more "Hawaii" things.

So today I was pretty thrilled when Stephen came up with the idea to go to Ko Olina.

Ko Olina is a resort near where we live.

It has really nice man-made lagoons and landscaping.

It is also the location of the new Disney resort Aulani that is opening at the end of the month.

I have been wanting to see it since the commercials started coming out.

So we drove down there and had a terribly over priced lunch.

But then we walk the lagoons.



And I got to wear my new dress.



And we saw the Disney resort.



Then we laid in the grass in the shade and talked for a while.

It was a really nice time.

Then I made this for dinner:



It's S'mores in a Jar!

(recipe found here: http://www.howsweeteats.com/2011/04/smores-cake-in-a-jar/

Yes, I know that gram crackers, chocolate cake and marshmallows don't make up the healthiest of meals.

Ok so maybe it really isn't a meal at all...just a really tasty dessert.

But hey, life's too short to not have dessert for dinner sometimes right?

Right?!

Well anyways, it was a good day.

Hope yours was too.

Part-time Vegetarian

I decided a couple weeks ago that there needed to be a change in Stephen's and my diet.

There were a few factors contributing to this decision.

Those factors being:

The lack of vegetables in our diet.

The squishiness of Stephen's middle section.

And all the research that has been coming out about health benefits of vegetarianism.

We have been eating pretty healthy for a while.

We always buy hormone free meat and dairy products.

We try to buy local produce when we can.

We never eat fast food (well, I never do, Stephen sneaks it at work every once in a while, but not much)

We try and stay away from overly processed foods.

And we almost never drink soda.

But with all that, I was still finding myself including very few vegetables in our diet.

So I decided that we would become part-time vegetarians.

Now some of you who know Stephen and I know that a couple months ago we bought a bulk order of local, hormone free, beef.

We will still be eating that meat but only once or twice a week.

I am just shooting for most of our meals to be vegetarian, not all, we like meat.

Now we ate plenty of "vegetarian" dishes before, but all in the form of pasta, way too much pasta.

So to help me, I went out and bought this book:



I LOVE it!

I always hated recipes that call for 20 ingredients and 15 of them are things you don't have on hand and that you will only use twice and will go bad before you use it the second time.

Not with this book.

Only 5 ingredients and that includes everything but salt and pepper.

Many of the recipes are vegan too.

A lot of the recipes call for different kinds of grains and beans.

This is great because I just stocked up on canned beans and grains and always have them on hand.



(I love any chance to use jars and my label maker!)

So here are some of the recipes we have tried so far.

(Sorry the pictures aren't great, I had to take them while being badgered by a hungry husband)

Cheese Tortellini with Zucchini


Black-Eyed Peas with Bulgur and Tomatoes (vegan)


Warm Potato and Goat Cheese Salad


Gingered Coconut Rice and Garlicky Black Beans (vegan)


Brown Rice with Chickpeas and Tomatoes (vegan)


Spinach Pasta with Zucchini, Squash and Tomatoes


Pasta with Asparagus and Goat Cheese


Now as I have been making these meals I have made Stephen rate them 1-5 stars so I can keep track of what he likes and what he doesn't.

Now the problem I began to find was that he never rated higher than a 3.

I finally asked why and he said "Oh, the food is good...and I would want it again but....it's a "3" compared to like Chef Marvo."

Chef Marvo!

Chef Marvo is a Michelin star rated chef!

No wonder I was only getting a 3.

I had to explain to Stephen that it's apples and oranges here and restaurant food can not be included in the scale for rating my cooking.

I told him, "A "5" is like your favorite beef stir fry I make, NOT filet mignon with a red wine reduction sauce served on black truffle infused mashed potatoes. Ok?"

He is still having a hard time going above a "3".

I think the highest I have gotten is a 3.75.

But overall most of the recipes have been really good, though neither of us liked the spinach pasta.

Hopefully we will keep it up and be healthier because of it.

Tonight it's Quinoa, Broccoli and Cheese Casserole.



PS We don't do tofu. We don't like the taste and I have developed a fear of soy products. Just google the health dangers of soy and you will develop a fear too.

RIP Soy milk

I miss you.

Almond milk is not half as good as you.