<div align="center"><a href="http://www.whatjeanlikes.com/2012/05/aloha-friday-blog-hop_10.html" title="Aloha Friday Blog Hop"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpRS3tDw7RYFHxq2c4qlz-11Zt8caIPkWufZIIDUWP7iuy06MK6odHxNdmXXd4A-Tik4PrGhbEQpT-ZbMcK36xcHmxKG6YL45D2w5R_1O4_i0JI7fRBca6DhLnpW5L9i0rB8UwWYDzzKk/s400/draft.jpg" alt="Aloha Friday Blog Hop" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

• Follow Jean via Google Friend Connect, Google+, Facebook, Twitter, Networked Blogs, Pinterest, Tumblr, Linky Followers, and Bloglovin!  
• Link up your blog name and URL with our Linky below.  You can do a separate entry for your blog, Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Linky.  We want everyone to get lots of follows and some sugar!! 
• Grab our Aloha Friday button and include it in a post about the event on your blog and in your sidebar (if you want) to show some love and let everyone know that you participate in the weekly blog hop!
• Go to as many blogs on the Linky as you want and FOLLOW them!!  Be sure to tell them that you are from Aloha Friday Blog Hop!!! 
• If someone is nice enough to follow you, why not show them some Aloha and some sugar and Follow back any followers you have gained from the Aloha Friday Blog Hop!

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A couple of weekends ago my son and I went hiking with my sister in law, her daughter, sister, mother and nephews.  It was such a nice day and a wonderful experience.  I've been trying to be more active and it was a nice excuse to take some photos.  The water was blue and clear and so was the sky with the exception of a few clouds.  Even though the sun was shining bright and hot on my skin, the wind provided a nice cool breeze to keep me from really feeling the heat.  It didn't hurt that I was wearing my awesome Dermalogica sunscreen (which I will review later this week).  Regardless of the direction you look, you're a snap away from a postcard worthy photo.  There's a beautiful lighthouse that you can see as you hike and then of course, the beautiful beach below.  

There were so many shades of blue that a person could spend all day up there trying to count and name them all.  As I gazed down at the clear, blue water at Makapu'u beach, I reminisced on fond memories of spending every day there body boarding and swimming through and under the waves. Before I had my son, I literally spent at least a year at the beach every single day and Makapu'u beach was my favorite one to go to.  The current is strong, but the water is clean and clear and so refreshing.  I miss body boarding.  I don't think I would be much good at it now haha.  I went there every single day I was pregnant (except for a few days before I gave birth) and some of my fondest memories were laying in the sand and feeling my son kick in my tummy.  I can't believe that was 11 years ago.  Time flies.

I hope you all enjoy these pictures and are having a wonderful week.




I am so blessed to live in Hawai'i.  I have traveled all over the west and east coast of the US and throughout Europe and though I have seen some amazing architecture and beautiful sights, nothing is quite like Hawai'i.

The weather today is humid and hot. At some points the sun is warm and hot on my skin and then a cloud will roll in and create a nice shade over everything. The sky is the most beautiful shade of blue. I wish I could go and enjoy it but I'm stuck in the office. Happy Friday everyone!!

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.whatjeanlikes.com/2012/05/aloha-friday-blog-hop_10.html" title="Aloha Friday Blog Hop"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpRS3tDw7RYFHxq2c4qlz-11Zt8caIPkWufZIIDUWP7iuy06MK6odHxNdmXXd4A-Tik4PrGhbEQpT-ZbMcK36xcHmxKG6YL45D2w5R_1O4_i0JI7fRBca6DhLnpW5L9i0rB8UwWYDzzKk/s400/draft.jpg" alt="Aloha Friday Blog Hop" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

• Follow Jean via Google Friend Connect, Google+, Facebook, Twitter, Networked Blogs, Pinterest, Tumblr, Linky Followers, and Bloglovin!  
• Link up your blog name and URL with our Linky below.  You can do a separate entry for your blog, Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Linky.  We want everyone to get lots of follows and some sugar!! 
• Grab our Aloha Friday button and include it in a post about the event on your blog and in your sidebar (if you want) to show some love and let everyone know that you participate in the weekly blog hop!
• Go to as many blogs on the Linky as you want and FOLLOW them!!  Be sure to tell them that you are from Aloha Friday Blog Hop!!! 
• If someone is nice enough to follow you, why not show them some Aloha and some sugar and Follow back any followers you have gained from the Aloha Friday Blog Hop!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

My grandma Jean and grandpa Peter (my father's parents) on their wedding day.

My grandpa Henry and my grandma Endoline (my mom's parents) not long after he came home from WWII in the Navy.

My grandma Jean.  I love this pic of her in a bathing suit back in the day!!

Old dead wood from a rosemary bush.  See the moon in the distance on the right?

Almost over my sinusitis.  YUCK!!!   So dizzy and sick but the worst is over!! Can't wait to get back to blogging. :)

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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Disclosure:  This post contains an affiliate link, which will give us a commission (often 2-5% of the purchase price) when you click-through the link and make a purchase. When you shop through affiliate links, you help to support the site!

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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