a little pregnancy aha moment

At 16 weeks pregnant, the baby is pear sized, just like momma's shape! While at prenatal yoga on Sunday, I had one of those little aha moments. It's funny how during pregnancy, I've been staying away from alcohol and coffee, I've been getting a lot of rest, and have been doing a lot of walking and yoga. I've been actively choosing not to let things stress me out. Why is it that when there's a baby inside, I take better care of myself? Why don't we treat our bodies this well all of the time? I just have to remember that after this child is born, I should give my body and myself this same form of love. Everyday I seem to learn something new from this baby. 

catching up on my 365

Hawaii - exploring the Big Island

Aloha friends! I hope you've had an amazing week! We've just returned from a wonderful getaway to the Big Island. At 4028 square miles, it is the largest of all of the Hawaiin islands combined. To give you scope, Maui, the second largest Hawaiin island, is 727 square miles. Oahu, the most populated Hawaiin island is 596 square miles. So you get the idea, it is definitely the Big Island. We absolutely loved it. It is so laid back and isn't full of tourists. The beaches were virtually empty compared to other tropical destinations. It is so unique and diverse in its landscape. We drove one afternoon for three hours and travelled through lava fields, desert and lush rainforest. There's just so much to see and explore. We rented a cottage on the back of a family's beautiful property (2nd photo above). (I highly recommend using the VRBO website to look for vacation rentals). It was a gorgeous studio-style home set up with a kitchen and bathroom, indoor and outdoor showers and wonderful screened sliding door walls that fully opened up the cottage. There was no TV and at night, we'd open the doors so the walls were just screened and listen to the birds as we fell asleep with the nice tropic breeze drifting in. I don't think I've ever slept so well. I couldn't recommend this way of travel enough. We had a pool to ourselves! It felt like upscale camping, just listening to nature and unplugging from tv, cell phones, etc. The family gave us some great tips of places to check out. We'd pack up the jeep each morning with our cooler full of sandwiches, drinks and fresh fruit, grab the snorkel gear and beach towels that the family provided for us, and pick a new route to explore. We'd leave the house around 9 a.m and wouldn't get back until 6 or 7 at night, then change and hit the town for dinner. I say "hit the town" but being pregnant, it was more like, "hit the rounds of ice tea." The town of Kona has a great promenade full of a variety of restaurants and shops. 

The snorkelling on the island is outstanding and each day we saw a huge variety of vibrantly coloured fish and had the pure joy of swimming with sea turtles on a daily basis. The coral reefs are spectacular  - I was just in as much awe of their beauty as I was of the fish that lived among them. When we first arrived on the island, I literally had to run off the plane to the nearest washroom and vomit with nausea. Aloha! I was nervous that I was travelling too soon into my pregnancy and was going to be stuck vacationing near an assortment of Hawaiin toilet bowls. But, after that first travel day, I didn't feel nauseous again. I honestly think the mix of sun and hours of swimming each day were the perfect cure. Of course now that I'm home, I've been sick each morning. I'm hoping I can find a doctor willing to write me a prescription: Must return to Hawaii - STAT! 

Here are a few more photos from our trip. This is probably the least amount of photos I've ever taken on a trip, but we spent most of our days swimming and I didn't want to leave my camera (ie - only thing I own worth any $$) - on a beach or in a parking lot. 

If you find yourself going to the Big Island anytime soon, here are a few of our favourite finds:

Best Beach: Mauna Kea - amazing snorkelling, white soft sand, turquoise water, banyan trees to provide shade - the only hitch - you have to get there early(before 9:30am), they only give out 40 parking passes to the public. We felt like we won the beach lottery each time we were handed the coveted pass.

Best Park: Volcano National Park -  spectacular hiking, lava tube caves, natural steam vents, smoking volcano - we spent 6 hours there but could have easily spent more. A lot of people spread this out over a few days and book a night at a hotel or b&b in the volcano village. It takes approx 2 1/2 hours to drive to the park from Kona.

Best Mexican food: Big Island Brewhaus - Waimea. 

Best lunch spot: The Coffee Shack  - 15 minutes south of Kona - outstanding food and views. 

Best snorkelling spot: Pu'uhonua O Honaunau: There's a little access road just before the entrance to the Pu'uhonua O Honaunau park (you don't have to enter the park). We've heard the best snorkelling on the island is at Kealakekua Bay, but this is only accessible by a chartered boat. And knowing my propensity to nausea, I didn't want to book a boat ride. Pu'uhonua is supposed to be the next best thing. We were blown away by the beauty of this reef.

The Graduate

I am definitely a proud aunt. My beautiful niece Kelsey graduated tonight. It amazes me to think that my hubby's younger sister (photographed above) has a child graduating and we are just starting our family. I've had the privilege of knowing Kelsey since she was a baby. It's amazing for me to think she was once this little girl playing in the leaves of our back yard and now she's holding her diploma ready to conquer the world. I definitely had some tears watching her walk down the aisle. She's an incredible girl with such a down to earth, positive attitude - I know she can do whatever she puts her mind to. We bought her a suitcase for graduation - hoping she carries it with her through many adventures ahead as she takes this giant step out into the world.

cooper

Tonight was a depressing game. The Canucks lost 5-2 and are forced into game 7 of the playoffs, thankfully on home ice. I am pretty sure the baby heard some wild swear words tonight. So, kicking playoff emotions to the curb, I thought I'd take a photo of something that always makes me smile - my cat. She has been my furry little sidekick for 13 years and I love every fibre of her being.

yard work

There is extreme satisfaction sitting in the back yard after you've worked hard tidying it up. 

Ari & Jen

I had the privilege of going to Jen & Ari Pardalis' wedding this weekend at Swan-e-set country club. I didn't know either of them, my husband had worked with Jen years ago, but as soon as I met them, I adored them. They are such warm and endearing people.  It was the first Greek wedding I have ever attended. I absolutely loved it. The sense of family and tradition were so apparent throughout. The Greek music and dancing was spectacular. There were even some dance-offs between young and old. I loved watching the dance they do around shot glasses (pictured above) - it is incredible to see. They dance until they are able to crouch down and pick up the shot glasses with their mouths- men and women, young and old participated.  I was also so impressed by all of their incredibly well-thought out details at the wedding. There was a candy station with goody bags that you could fill up to take with you. There were flip-flops for the women to dance in when their feet got too tired from their heels.  There was a photo station for guests to take group photos, complete with props if they so choose. The women's washroom had every emergency supply you could think of, including gum, tide pens, hairspray and deodorant. The buffet had dishes for lovers of chicken, fish, beef or vegetarians. The open bar made any drink you wanted - even my standing order for Shirley Temples. It was just an incredibly well thought out wedding. At night, after dessert was done, they even cooked french fries for late night snackers. 

My favourite part was Ari's speech. It moved me to tears. It was a love letter to his family and Jen. As the youngest of his large family, Ari spoke about how his sister took him everywhere when he was growing up. She looked out for him and mothered him as if he were her child. He told her children that they are so lucky to have her because she truly shines as a mother. I loved how Ari spoke about meeting Jen and how he couldn't wait for his family to meet her because he knew how incredibly special she was. They even played the video of when he proposed. It was a wonderful event that I was so thrilled to be a part of.