"An enjoyable vacation is awaiting you"

That is what my fortune cookie fortune said

the first day we arrived in Hawaii

no joke

Our first day here was a Sunday. We went to church, then to the LDS Temple. Unfortunately it was under construction, so we weren't unable to go inside for a session. The grounds were beautiful.This night we walked to the beach and saw our only sunset. Perfect weather.

Love Spencer

Monday we headed to the PCC (Polynesian Cultural Center) We visited each "island" to learn about their culture. For dinner we ate the Ali'i Luau. This included a lei greeting, Hawaiian music and entertainment, All-you-can-eat buffet and more.
Tuesday was hiking the botanical gardens up to Waimea Falls. This was one of our most favorite experiences. The small hike was relaxing and enjoyable, and swimming in the falls was super fun. After this Spencer went golfing (didn't do so hot, weather was crapy) and the rest of us went to Waimea Beach. Also not great b/c of the weather. Wednesday we first went to the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet. Hello, crazy lots of stuff here! It wraps all around the stadium. Mostly the same stuff, with some new things throughout. We came out with some great hawaiian treasures. After spending some money and walking for what seemed like forever, we made our way to Pearl Harbor. I really liked this place as well. We watched the movie Pearl Harbor before we came, so I could better understand what happened here. It really helped and made my experience here very memorable and sobering. After Pearl Harbor we traveled into downtown Waikiki. We ate at Duke's Fish which was amazing and highly recommended. We walked along the beach a little. There were lots of buildings, like there are in cities, and we were really glad to not be staying there, rather at the North Shore. On Thursday we drove past China Man's Hat to get to Makapuu Point Lighthouse, which we hiked up to see. It was a nice little hike that got us all some exercise. The view from up top was spectacular. After this we went snorkeling at Hanauma Bay, which is the best place to go. Spencer enjoyed this more than me. (it kinda gets to me being that close to those fish and stuff) We stopped to see Halona Blow Hole. Was neat, cool pic. Friday was our last day here. We started out at the DOLE Pineapple Plantation. Took the train ride then walked around. We learned how to cut & serve pineapple (tutorial to come later).
After here we went into Haleiwa. We ate a a shrimp shack, then went and did some sea kayaking. Nice and relaxing, just the two of us. After here we did a little body surfing. We headed off to dinner then ice cream dessert (for the 3rd time!) and closed our night with packing.
So long, farewell Oahu , Hawaii. We wish you gave us more sunny weather. We'll definately come back to visit in a warmer season to see a different island. Until then. Ciao. It was my birthday on Saturday, as we flew home. Spencer asked the flight attendents if they had any of those little ice cream treats for me. They didn't, but brought me this snack box. That was thoughtful of them! My mom picked us up from the airport and had made me some cupcakes. It was perfect. Thanks mom.

Meatloaf Cupcakes?

I found this idea online. Make meatloaf. Instead of putting it in a large pan, put them in cupcake wrappers (supposed to use foil, forgot to buy those). Bake for 20 minutes. Then, make some instant potatoes, color it, and put on as "frosting." We'll see if anyone falls for this one! (I got 3 people!) Last Year...Office supplies + Jello = AWESOME!! I made it through half the day with no one guessing it was me. It was actually a lot harder to pull this off b/c everything floats, but it was totally worth it and will be hardest to top ever. HAPPY . APRIL . FOOLS . DAY
now go play a joke on someone

I Love Technology

My sister, coworker and I went on a special shopping trip today during work.
What made it so special you might ask?
Well, like I said, it was during work. However, we DID NOT ever get out of our chairs, and we DID NOT speak with each other in person or over the phone. BUT, we still managed to see our clothes and talk about which color and size we liked; we filled our shopping cart, then paid and checked out. We didn’t even have to worry about carrying a bag back to our car in this cold weather. Our items will simply be shipped right here to the office. Lovely.
I would like to thank a couple companies for making this possible.
First, I thank Hotmail for popping up the alert to tell me Shade had just sent me an email. Second, thank you Windows Live Messenger for enabling my sister and I to communicate without seeing each other or picking up a phone. Lastly, and most importantly, I would like to thank the World Wide Web. Thank you for making my shopping experience so easy today.

P.S. A big thank you to Microsoft Excel and Word, you have been so awesome to me these last couple months. I dare say you are some of my most favorite programs!

Last Maughan Adventure: Oahu, Hawaii

We spent the first week of March in Oahu, Hawaii. It was a busy, enjoyable week. Life has been crazy since a week before then, maybe we'll get to the highlights of this vaca, maybe not (we didn't even post about our 3 week Europe Backpacking trip! Later, we will)

So I have added a slideshow to the sidebar so you can at least see the Saaweeeet Pictures we took of the fun things we enjoyed and did. Take a look. Click on the slideshow to view the picts normal size in Picasa to really see their awesomeness.

Crazy Crazy Life

Not too many posts as of late. Life for Melina and Spencer is crazy busy. We've been asked to help Choreograph one of the dances for the Temple Youth Celebration. It's been good so far, but has taken up a lot of our time. Melina is incredible and could probably take on the world with her pinky if she had to.

It's a good day when

Bassman says:

LIFE IS GREAT
GREAT WIFE
GREAT HOME
GREAT CAT
GREAT JOB

Fab 5

Hawaii. 5 days gone. 481 picts thus far (we love our digital camera!) Here are a couple favs for a sneak peak into our latest journey. Until the end...

On your Mark, Get Set, GO

It was the Pinewood Derby tonight with the Cub Scouts! These little boys love the simple things in life and had a great time whether they won or lost. Spencer and I are over the Wolf Pack, their first intro to Cub Scouts. The Cars! Mine is the orange one, it is way more ugly in person! Spencer went for the win by hollowing his out. (the black stuff on our cars was the wheel grease) Mine won first then Spencer's won, then we didn't end up doing a tie breaker, which is fine b/c I think Spencer would've been disappointed!
Spencer and his group. (the Blonde boy w/the Blue car dominated every round and won Overall 1st place)

Public v. Private v. Car Vinyl

Private Blog v. Public Blog: A lot of people are asking themselves this question and for others' opinions on this, because of how society is now and is headed.
I am not a fan of private blogs, and here are my 2 main reasons:
#1. I can't blogsurf (surf, not stalk) to see and connect with old friends or people from highschool. (It is fun to see what everyone is up to, how they have changed, and their cute new families.) I like to see how different and creative people are, how they inspire others, lot's of people I don't even know.
#2. It is kind of out of my way to have to login to see the blogs (Lazy, sure. To be honest, my private friends' blogs don't get seen as often as my public. I still love you Trish)

If you are worried, then you need to decide what you'd rather do...put all your detailed personal info on your blog or not, or just some.... There ARE crazies out there on the cybersphere, I agree.

However, let's just jump to another topic that has been BUGGIN me for over a year now: what I think is MORE dangerous than public blogs, and I AM VERY OPPOSED to, is all the
VINYL on THE BACK OF THE PARENT'S CARS
-PICTURES (that pretty much tell how many folks are in the fam, whether they are the favored cute stick figures, or the penguins or snowboards, we can read between the lines ladies!)
-LOGOS of your kid's SCHOOLS and/or ACTIVIES
-The specific # on your child's jersey in the sport logo
(I know I know, you are just supporting your child, I know!)
This, to me, is a WAY more scary attraction for all the Crazies out on the STREETS. You drive around all day, running errands here and there w/and w/o your children. The people on the streets/in their cars see you, and your children. No longer do they have to follow you on your errands to find out more about your children...they now know where your child attends school, what activity they favor, AND what # they wear. NOW, all the creep has to do is show up at the school event and zero in on YOUR child. Maybe you are there, maybe you aren't, either way the creep is, and he is watching whether you want it or not.

Now I am definately one who is NOT the worrying type and will take extra precautions because the world is now full of crazies and super unsafe for everyone, especially our children. Maybe I have read too many Grisham and Baldacci books? No, maybe not. Hmmm. just something to think about. Oppose me, that is fine, I won't take any offense!
What do You think?

Someone's OLD is our NEW

Seriously, do we ever stop?! Not for long, and I love it. This time we took these old nighstands we found (matching!) at DI for $15 each. What a steal! With some sanding, priming and painting, we came out on top, with each only costing $30. Can't beat that.

We went to a Valentine's Dance on Saturday night, and boy did we busta move! It's fun to get all gussied up now and then. Spencer rocks, he is such a good sport in letting me teach him some of what I know...then do it in front of everyone who may have been watching! He is such a STUD.

Ok, so we have some really CLEVER Friends!

I know, 2 posts in ONE day! This must be worth it....and it is! Here is a 2nd blog that is TOTALLY Worth reading, even though there is only a couple posts so far. CLICK HERE. You HAVE to read the first two. All you facebook peeps, read on.
MAKE SURE YOU SCROLL DOWN SO YOU DON'T MISS THE FIRST HIGHLIGHTED BLOG!

The Ultimate Vanity...A must read Blog

Tired of all our normal life updates? Wanting a different, fun, genuinely honest everyday thoughts kinda blog? Visit HERE. HELLO! I could not stop reading, and literally enjoyed myself the whole time, and was sad it came to an end (until next time SoJay!). It may help that I know sweet SoJay personally and her spunky, contagious fun personality, but through her posts, you will come to know her too! I am just smiling, girl you made a great start to my day!

"Why The Ultimate Vanity? I can't help feeling there's a bit of vanity involved if I think people want to read my opinions on whatever I might choose to write about--as I've accused other bloggers. On the other hand, I love reading everyone else's blogs and for the most part they seem to be more about keeping everyone up to date on their lives rather than sharing unsolicited opinions.I, however, have no life and endless opinions on a myriad of topics. Hmm."

Love & Adventure in Manti, UT

So Spencer and I passed our 4 year mark on the 13th! He planned a delighful, relaxing getaway to Manti, UT. Yes, you heard that right. To the Yardley Inn & Spa. It was cute, quaint and comfortable. We stayed in the Lavender and Lace room. The night started out at Roy's Pizza, really yum, almost as good as my mom's homemade. Then to the ice cream shop to bust our bellies with that yummy sinful stuff! Then off to the podunk bowling alley, not for bowling, but for pool tables and pinball. Bride Wars came next at the local 2-show theater. Then we hit the sack, ready for "the day." We opened it reading in the plant-filled, relaxing Selarium, then a yummy provided breakfast. Then, we hit the large and in charge jetted tub for some more *relaxation. After getting ready we headed off to the beautiful, old structured Manti Temple. It is/was an amazing experience. We LOVE to see the Temple. After dinner we hit up the bowling alley, where you have to keep your own score! Remembering to count your pins before the second roll was quite a task! After another round of pool, where I finally won, we headed back to *cozy up in our room for the last night. It was romantic, special, and a very needed get-away. I adore you Spencer love, you are perfect for me. Here's to another 4 more happy, adventure filled years!

We decided to end our time-off with some snowshoeing. We did the short, very well traveled trail to Donut Falls. It took an hour, and Spencer got a pretty sweet picture. We had a few little hills we slid down on our bottoms. Watch and see the simple joys of life and laughter.

Winter Festivities...Jealous?

10 hours to build and $70 later...impressed? We are!

Jynx is one lucky & loved kitty.

Lucky for us...He LOVES it!

Ugly Sweater Party

What would it be like without one of these?! This was actually our first one. It was super fun, at our good friends house. Spencer won the UGLIEST SWEATER...take a look, there is nothing more to say!

We had 5 of 7 of Spencer's close friends over for a party...Rock band and Spencer were out of control!

Small Christmas

We took the challenge of our neighbor and from Nov 1 to Dec 24 we read the 4 Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke & John) and 3rd Nephi. This is all about Jesus Christ and his life. It was amazing, and we met our goal to have it read by Christmas. Our testimonies of the Savior has grown, and the spirit we have felt, and that has been in our home has been awesome. It made Christmas a lot more meaningful, having our focus on the Savior, rather than what we were giving and receiving.

We enjoyed a small Christmas this year together. The best gift to us was to have 6 days off work and spend every one of them together! All the family parties were done by the 20th, so we were able to relax and enjoy most of Christmas in the comfort of our own home! Our new home was the main present, and we just gave eachother a few small things.

Family Parties

It was fun to get together as a family and see everyone. Thank you everyone for all the wonderful gifts.
Christmas w/Mom Glade. We had the world's best homemade tacos, opened family presents, watched the super cute kids, played with the kitty, and enjoyed each others company.
(We received super awesome snow boots for Melina, Dark Knight DVD & Cute homemade scarf for Spencer, and a surprise picture from Matty to come - sure to be super sa-weet!)

Christmas w/Dad & Kim Glade. Ate lots of food, opened stockings and presents, watched the super cute kids. (received happenings coupon book and gift cards, free food!)
Christmas w/Maughan's. The kid's acted out the nativity story, then went crazy and opened family presents. There was wrapping paper and excited kids everywhere! (received another set of silverware, that makes 16! An electric blanket and cute vinyl pict "We may not have it all together...but together we have it all. The Maughan Family")