here are some orchids from the botanical garden. I'm going to finish out the week with all the little randoms left.  

what an incredible dork I am!  

It's been 2 months since we headed out and I miss my people so much.  I've always known how important my friends and family are to me but there's nothing like being without them to remind you. 

so can't wait to get back to the east coast and see everyone.   Party at my house!!! 

ferns grow up a rock wall...

bromeliads.  

The garden had a whole bromeliad section.   (as well as an orchid section, but that comes later this week)

tiny tiny tiny little pineapple.  measured maybe 4 inches or so. 

an arm of a banyan tree reaching down.
If you don't know what a banyan tree is it's worth your time to google.  (click on the link)  
They're native to India and rampant in Hawaii.  They produce shoots from the branches that hang to the ground and eventually root.  It seems like they can get as big as you'd let them, there's one in the park in downtown Hilo that has to be like 40 feet wide. 

Invasive but striking. 
 

and a big ole' thank you to Ernie for being oh so patient with me in the garden.  I mean, I took a ton of pictures and it took forever! 

as a side note- the bromeliads here were so beautiful.  I wish I could keep them in my home as houseplants (they make great ones) but I have a cat that likes to eat points off of plants so a bromeliad meets a sad and certain fate in our home.  I've tried... 

Today we went to the botanical gardens and it was so beautiful.  Needless to say I have lots of pictures coming this week from that.  So stay tuned- if you're into flowers and what not. 

To get you though your Monday I'll leave you with this picture.  Onions here is crazy!! I can normally get through one onion before my eyes well up so much I can't see, because of that Ernie and I have an agreement- anything more than one he handles.  The onions here though... they're a whole new breed.  So when Ernie's been inside, typing away on his paper at least he gets to wear his snorkel mask for something...

these are just some pictures I took of our neighborhood while out on our daily walk.  I have some new toys and I am totally nerding out with them. 

hey buddy!

papayas growing at the sidewalk. 

This is a stag horn fern.  This has always been one of my favorite plants.  I've never had one because I know they're really hard to grow but this is just hanging out in a tree in a yard right around the corner from us.

FANTASTIC! 

but I think everything is fantastic... 

it's something I've always thought true and now it is confirmed..

Photographers are a great people to kick around with.  When I was scared to start this new life venture and felt foolish for even thinking it could work I had a group of photographer friends pushing me that way and cheering me on - The first to offer a hand and the first to say- You can do it! 

So anyway... the point of this is to tell you I got the most lovely gift in the mail today from Amy Free (a phenomenal photographer and source of constant inspiration)  this is the first and only bit of mail I've gotten since arriving in Hawaii.  

It just warmed my heart and I can not wait to find it a home on our wall when we get back to Raleigh. 

Thank you Amy!!!!!! 
 
ps-  my husband, mom and mother-in-law were also instrumental in being my own personal cheer leading team.  I am lucky to be surrounded by the people that I am.  

these fronds are from the backyard of our house.  What I really love about them is that they are the branches of a tree that has fallen.  (what looks like many years ago)  They just weren't deterred by death and just kept right on going. 

I love it.

Something that I have really thought a lot about here in Hawaii is how resilient we are all built.  I have seen so many creatures that are made to endure the pounding of the ocean.  So many creatures living in the tiniest spaces- just doing what they do with the opportunities given to them- for the good or the bad.  

Remind me of this later if I need it...

I have a new hobby and it's a little less than thrilling.  Whatever, it's keeping my entertained. I just love these little bits of wisdom given to us in the these raisin boxes.  
I wonder how many boxes were eaten here before we even noticed the notes?

the nice thing about all the rain in hilo is the rainbows!!!!

here's a rainbow off our back porch.  

here's a view off our deck toward the ocean.  

just another life lesson.

So these two images were taken from the same scenic overlook about a month apart.  I wouldn't have believed it either had I not been the one to take them.  In fact, I didn't even realize it was the same overlook until Ernie told me.  So clearly it's at a slightly different angle but it's still from the same 100 foot wide pull off on the highway.  

That's why I love to take photos because truly nothing is ever the same as it was in that exact moment you took a picture.  That moment will never ever happen again...ever... for ever ever...

I feel a panic coming on... I better go document today since there will never be another day quite like it, and that's true of every day.  So enjoy today!

(but only after I am done eating this sandwich- can I get an amen at how truly fabulous vegetarian baloney is?!- it's my jam!) 

 Lomography-
  the Lomography motto of "don't think, just shoot" presumes spontaneity, close-ups, and ubiquity, while deemphasizing formal technique. Typical lomography cameras are deliberately low-fidelity and inexpensively constructed. Some cameras make use of multiple lenses and rainbow-colored flashes, or exhibit extreme optical distortions and even light leaks." from wikipedia

so I've been meaning to buy myself a little toy camera for quite some time. The style of photography has one of the most intense and active followings on this here internet. I'm always so inspired by other lomo photos.  The simplicity, the retro, the uncontrollable just gives the warm fuzzies about a bygone era.  
So here's my first attempt... I'm going to give it a big ole' eh.  Eh, it's ok. I guess I just thought this was going to change my life. I'm terribly optimistic so I think everything is going to change my life.  So I guess I am not done.  I just got started but it's not nearly as fun as I thought it would be.
so I guess I am just going to keep on keepin' on... 

ps- I am waiting for ups to arrive with a new lens for me (today!!) and that is totally going to change my life.  I'm just sure of it.  

I think I might be done hiking down into valleys with these boys.  It's nice going down but I kind of feel like crying coming back up.

this would be the big dead thing that rolled around in the surf in the valley.  

From the overlook we were convinced it was a giant squid and we we're like completely running down the mountain because we we're so excited.  Imagine our disappointment when it ended up being a big whale part.  We haven't be able to identify it but it's spine was at least 25 feet long.  It was too decayed to know for sure. 

Oh yeah, and it smelled terrible...

monuments...

we amuse ourselves...

This may be the cheesiest post I have ever put out there but I don't care, I'm feelin' the love and I gots to spread it!

I am having such a super time here in hawaii. I mean, they don't call it tropical paradise for nothin'.
I feel like it's a downer but I just can not wait to get back to Raleigh and get my wedding season on. I've got such an amazing group of brides to look forward to...

Two of my beautiful meredith girls are getting married this year and I am tickled to death to get to be a part of them both (ya'll know how I love my meredith girls!)

I've got what I think will be a saucy and amazing dominican wedding with a super inspiring bride- she's getting a phd and working!?!?! What?- when does she come up for air?- much less plan a wedding.

I've got another wedding for a new couple I've met through an old friend and I think they're just good people and a ton of fun. I also can't wait to catch up with said old friend.

I've got a wedding with a bride that I know through Ernie's old time band playing. Old time musicians are are a fun people so I just know the whole day will be amazing- she's also a bride I just really felt a huge connection with.

I've got a wedding for a young women who wanted someone fun and youthful and decided to go with me- what a huge compliment!

Then last but not least I've got a wedding for the sister of an awesome girl I went to high school with. If this new bride is half as sweet as her sister (and I know she is) then this day will be great!

I just wanted to put a big ole' thank you out into the universe!! I feel so blessed to have met all the beautiful brides I have this year and I am so dang excited to be a part of them all!!! It's really all about YOU ladies and I CAN NOT WAIT to post your weddings here.
I've just got an attitude of gratitude and I had to share it!!

well, he's not old but he sure does act it sometimes...

I feel like this doesn't look nearly as impressive as it felt.  We were trying to find the mouth of a stream and came across these beautiful cliffs where the ocean was just slamming the rocks- like really beating them. 

 I think it's safe to say we we're all a little floored by her huge power and how tiny we felt next to it.  We were so close and it seemed as though it would be so easy to slip in and be taken away.  

we just stood, in the midst of a rain storm, and watched for a solid 15 minutes... 

I think the sky is bigger here...

I actually have no idea where we are here.  (what can I say? I am just along for the ride)  all I know is that I liked it.  (and this beach park had the best port-a-johns I have ever been in) 
It was raining so we didn't hang out too long.  I think we decided that this is fantastic stream and we need to come back to sample.  Not sure though- like I said, just along for the ride...

these boys are sitting on the wall and watching the ocean and the surfers. 
 Behind me lots of people are cooking out and having family gatherings.  Everyone was having such a nice time it made me want to look for a Hawaiian family to join just for a bit. 

Who wants bbq?

Sorry to do that to you... 
It was just an interesting experience.  We stood on this tiny tiny beach for probably 10 minutes before we realized we had some, um, visitors among us.  I just thought it was pretty beautiful (totally not the right word for that) how her face just blended so seamlessly with the rocks.  

tree roots cling to what they can...

if I had to pick one, I think I'd be ok with this place...

rainy day view from our bedroom window.  Oh, how my love of this bedroom runs deep.  
I'm going to have to have a stern talking to with my bedroom back home.  It's really been letting me down.

The life lesson is that we don't sew fish nets on the deck without sunscreen on when we are so pale we're see through.
 When one stays hunched over stitching nets in the mid-day they get a lovely sunburn on their belly rolls. 

and lastly- BIG shout out to Dan the intern!!!! He was accepted into the University of Wisconsin Madison for grad school and he found out this morning! Happy day! I think he deserves a round on me!!

here in hawaii people leave all kinds of little tokens behind on the beach.  I'm not really sure why but in my mind I have decided it's a gift to the sea- a symbol of respect.  Often I see flowers but I also see little monuments built out of sea stones.  Here are a few from last week. 

small...

medium...

large...

as the sun sets...