This Wordless Wednesday I decided to post my current favorite photos of Honolulu.  The top 2 phtoos are of Waikiki Beach and Diamond Head taken from the Rainbow Tower at Hilton Hawaiian Village.  The last photo is of Ala Moana Beach park a month or so ago.  I'm so lucky and blessed to live in Hawai'i!!

How's the weather where you live?  Is it warming up nicely?  I hope you are all having a lovely week!!

Oh and if you haven't already, check out my photography website!!

www.whatjeanlikesphotography.com

Just some random pictures I snapped with my iPhone 4s using the Camera+ app.  I hope you are all having a wonderful week so far.

God bless the USA!

Because Mondays otherwise suck, here are some of my favorite posts/reads/bytes from this week.  The posts I feature are an eclectic mixture of writings, photography and other random things that I just found either touching, enjoyable and inspirational.

This week's spotlight is on food.  I have been obsessed with recipes lately so these are the blogs whose recipes looked so delicious that I wanted to share!!

I just got this trio in the mail yesterday and I have to say I love it.  If you like coconut but don't want something that smells sickeningly sweet, this will be perfect for you.  The mixture of vanilla and coconut is subtle enough to not make you feel sick if you're sensitive to strong scents but fragrant enough for you to be able to enjoy the summery scent as your skin gets a moisturizing treat.

I'm going to use this more and do a full review on how it affects your skin after using it for a week or more every day.  I hope you're all having a wonderful weekend!!

xoxo

I read this article and had to share. It's so important to read our food labels to know what we are really consuming!!

Article courtesy of Daily Mail

Does sugar make you stupid? Study suggests it sabotages learning and memory

• Fructose is commonly added to processed foods such as soft drinks
• 
  
• It was found to hamper memory and slow brain activity
• 
  

It's Thursday and I'm exhausted from a grueling and long day yesterday to why not post old pictures of me from way back in the day?  :o)

When I was little, there were a few things I loved other than my parents and my brother:  glitter, Barbies, dolls, toys, Rainbow Brite, and princesses.  I was obsessed with pink and purple and even had my mom paint my room bright Easter egg purple.  It actually was a pretty shade and even now my love for purple remains as my room is a very pale shade of lavender.

 As I look at these old photos I can remember the moments that they were taken for pretty much every single photo.  Not that impressive since I have a photographic memory but nonetheless, the memories are fond ones.  I think the only photos I don't remember taking are the ones where I'm a baby with my parents and with my great grandmother (obviously I couldn't remember being a baby!! haha).

I hope you all have made it over the mid-week hump in one piece and are looking forward to the weekend as much as I am.  My son's last day of 4th grade is today and he is so excited as am I to get his summer vacation started!!

These photos captured wonderful days and moments in my life and I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoy sharing them.  Share your old photos with me!!! Write a post and link it to me in the comments below!  I'd love to see your old Throwback Thursday photos!!

Don't forget to enter my $50 VISA Gift Card Giveaway!!! It's free to enter and who couldn't use an extra $50 bucks?!

Me, my Dad and my Mom.  I think I was about 8 months here.

If you're interested in buying a juicer, here are two of my favorites. 

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Here are some of the cherry tomatoes I'm growing in my garden and a little bit of basil.




Added bonus, a photo taken with my iPhone 4 of a coconut tree in my neighbor's yard.  I just liked the clouds yesterday evening so I took a quick snap.

Hope you all are having a wonderful Wednesday!!

xoxo

Today started off like any other school day.  My son got ready for school and brushed his teeth and washed his face (which is an event because if he had his way, he never would) and then got his supplies ready and put on his shoes.  As he was tying his basic Converse Chuck Taylors (the black shoes in the center of the photo), I asked him why he was wearing those again and not the high top red or green ones.  My son Alaka'i really wanted the high tops initially which is why I purchased them for him along with a new pair of Chuck Taylors.  He told me that some boy at school, let's just call the boy Kasey, told him that the green camo pattern (Alaka'is favorite) were "retarded and ugly".  Alaka'i and I sat and had a long talk about how he should wear something because he likes it and not to let what other people, especially bullies think or say influence him otherwise.  We talked about how sometimes people say mean things because they are jealous and wish they had something that you own or because they're simply mean.  What really impacted Alaka'i was when I told him that if I went to school and offered "Kasey" a pair of the green camo shoes, I guarantee he'd want them.  Needless to say that after our conversation, he laced up his green camo Converse high top sneakers and walked to the car with a smile on his face.

My son Alaka'i is no stranger to bullying either.  This is not his first time at the rodeo but my sweet boy knows that even if someone hits him or says something mean to him, it's not an excuse for him to hit back or say something equally mean or lame back to them.  I told him to either let the teacher know or let me know and we'd handle it.  The bullies are lucky he's so passive and nice because my boy is tall for his age and towers over most of his classmates.  If he were to let his rage take over, he would knock that brat out.  Luckily he listens to my instructions and doesn't do anything because fighting solves nothing.  I told him that he should stand up for himself and tell the bully to cut it out and that if it persists, let me know.

I'd be lying if I said that I didn't have some choice words for that little putz "Kasey".  I'd love to sling some expletives and cut downs his way.  It's hard to not revert to my old habits and my sharp tongue because it had gotten me through being bullied in high school but it also backfired and I got a reputation in school for being mean because of it.  I wasn't a Christian then either so now I really have to watch my words and my actions and do what is right.  I don't want to teach my son the wrong way, I want him to know how to act and how to do the right thing from the start so he doesn't have to correct any bad habits when he gets older like I do.

Bullies have always been around.  I myself have been a victim of bullying in elementary school, so bad at one point that I got beat up and became a loner because of it.  In high school there were cliques and some bullying but by then I had toughened up so I would shoot the cut downs right back at them.  Did it solve anything? No.  I just for the life of me can't understand why some kids feel the need to cut others down to feel more important.  Then again, bullying isn't exclusive only to children.  In fact, adults bully each other just as much if not more than children.  I think that it hurts more when you're a child because you're not jaded and haven't had the chance to develop thick skin.  When you're a child you just want to fit in and be liked and accepted.  You don't want to be made to feel bad or left out.  That's why I believe it's important to give my son a strong sense of self so he doesn't bend his ways and shift his morals to fit in with the crowd.  Even with that strong sense of self and a positive self-image, it still stings to get cut down.

Bullies are cowards and morons.  If they had brains or real guts, they'd find a better way to get attention than to cut someone else down.  Then again, you have to wonder what they have or are enduring at home to bring out this angry and bullying nature.  I know my bullies were cut down regularly by their parents and I know others who lived in homes with a lot of fighting and violence and bullying between parents that they witnessed.  I feel bad for bullies because they act that way either due to a bad home life or due to a lack of intelligence.  Either way it's a losing situation.  Having a bad home life is no excuse to be mean, rude or violent towards anyone.  If they can't find constructive ways to channel that anger, it will just lead to their demise.  A bully's worst enemy is the person they look at when they glance in the mirror.

It's so hard as a parent seeing your child bullied or cut down.  I want so badly to protect him and shield him but I can't do that 24/7.  I never truly grasped how hard being a parent is.  You think when you're pregnant that it will be this adorable dream and it gets progressively harder as they age.  I used to think that the hardest part would be all the work taking care of a newborn but it's not.  That was fun.  The hardest part is watching your child go out into the world and knowing they will be exposed to things and people you would not allow them to see or be associated with if they were with you.  That's why it's so important to talk with your children and have that open line of communication with them so that they're not afraid to come to you with anything.

Just looking at old pictures of me and my son Alaka'i when he was a baby.  I can't believe he's 10 and about to end 4th grade already!!! Time flies.  The photo above was from his first visit to the zoo when he was about 9 months old and I had just chopped off all my hair.  Wow, I do not look good in short hair!! haha

I hope my son grows to be a Godly, good man.  Lord knows that I have my flaws but I try so hard to teach him to be honest and to always do what is right, no matter how hard it is.  God protect him and keep him close to you!!!  I am so thankful that I am blessed with such an amazing son.  I just pray that he stays strong in his faith and allows Jesus to lead him in his life.

Even on my worst day, even when he's grumpy or bratty, he lights my life up with pure joy.  This picture is of my boy just a week ago.  Love my son!!



He looks so much like my little brother Peter and my dad.  He even acts like them. It's so cute to watch them all interact.  My brother and I had a blast growing up.  Love this picture with him and my mama!!!

I hope you all had a wonderful and blessed week and that your weekend is going well!! Is it just me or does the weekend seem to fly by in a blink?  Sigh.

Xoxo,

Jean

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Photo taken PRE Grand Opening courtesy of PBN

Hawai'i is beautiful indeed.  The tropical weather, sunshine, blue water and green vegetation are a wonderful sight to behold.  Living on an island, however, poses it's challenges because of lack of space and the cost of rent for retailers.  In recent years Hawai'i has gotten quite a few chains here like Whole Foods, Target, Best Buy, and Forever 21 that we lacked before.  There are still some stores that have yet to venture to the 50th state though I wish they would.   The Container Store, Trader Joes, Kohls, Staples, Pottery Barn, Bed Bath and Beyond (technically we have one and it's small, cramped and lacking the stock and options of other mainland locations), Lane Bryant, and H&M come to mind when I think of stores that we don't have here yet that I'd love to spend my hard earned money at.

TJ Maxx opened its first Hawaii store in 16 years at the Ward Village Shops on Thursday.

The 35,000 square-foot store is the first of three new TJ Maxx stores that the Massachusetts-based TJX Cos. (TJX) plan to open in Hawaii this month.

TJ Maxx will open a 25,000 square-foot store at Pearl City Gateway on May 10, and a 24,850 square-foot stare at Pearlridge Center    in Aiea on May 17.

“We are pleased to expand our store base to Hawaii, delivering value and an exciting selection of fashion to serve the needs of Hawaii customers,” TJX President Richard Sherr said in a statement.

My son Alaka'i is 10 years old and right now he's really into "shufflin'".  I don't let him watch much tv but apparently his classmates at school do this dance and even though he doesn't know the song, he's determined to learn the dance.  He's so cute.  He asked me the other day to take pictures of him while he showed me his shufflin' and I agreed.  He also got some new Converse sneakers and he wanted me to take photos of them too, "just because".   I love my boy so I couldn't deny his request.

He was really excited about getting these shoes.  Ever since he watched The Sandlot with me, he's wanted the "PF Flyers" aka Converse All Star shoes.  I ordered a few pairs when they had an awesome sale on their website and surprised him after school.  Needless to say, he was really happy.

Oh and these are his shoes.  He wanted me to specifically put a picture of the shoes alone so "everyone could see how awesome they are".

Gotta love my silly guy.  He's the light of my life.  After we did our little shufflin' photo sesh, he was asking me about why I have told him since he was a baby that he had chocolate brown eyes.  Naturally, I took a photo to show him.  This specific photo was his favorite because I enhanced the shadows and made the light harsh.  I like that he has layers of brown in his eyes.  It's something I never noticed before but a great camera and a bright flash shows everything!!


Can you believe it's Thursday already?!  Not complaining but the week just flew by for me.  Working a lot tends to do that though!! I hope you all are having a wonderful week.