Weekend Recap: Hula Show, Angela's Birthday, and a Golfcart Ride

Our last couple of weeks on Kwaj are flying by, and last weekend was no exception! I seriously can't believe that we only have two weeks left on Kwaj! EEKKK! We have so much going on, but we are doing our best to soak up all we can of Kwaj before we make our way back to Texas!

Our weekend started on Saturday night with the much anticipated Hula Show. We had been practicing since FEBRUARY, people!! The show was supposed to be in late April, but it got postponed, and the level of anticipation and performance anxiety has been building up ever since! We practiced every night last week, and by the time Saturday rolled around I was a nervous wreck! Johnathon flew home from Roi early so that I could get myself ready, and I may have taken advantage of the extra help by helping myself to a vodka soda! The dancers got to the MP room an hour or so before hand so we could get our lava lava's (hula skirts) tied, and take pictures before show time! Here are the ladies and I before the show!

Amy, Cher, Me, Chamee, Angela, Jenny, and Jane! All my favorite ladies and I before the Hula Show!

We had some time to kill before the show, and our nerves started getting the best of us, so we made sure that we were well "hydrated" before the show began!!

Excuse the plastic bag...the water bottle was leaking, and we were trying to stay tidy...and classy...

We also tried on different headdress pieces...Angela fought a losing battle with her flower crown...

Darn twigs!!!!

And I got this cute pic of Cher with her daughter Meredith who was also in the show...

After all our pre-show shenanigans, I am happy to report that the actual show went really well! There were no major screwups, and we all had a lot of fun! Johnathon took some video, although Hadley was being a little non-compliant so he only got bits and pieces of the dances! I will try to get those uploaded ASAP! I stayed after for the big potluck dinner, and J took Hadley home since the show ended way past her bedtime. Huge shout out to the hubs for coming home early from work and taking care of Hadley so that I could get ready and focus on the show! Taking a 15month old to a dance recital that was past her bedtime and lasted for over an hour is no easy thing to do, but Johnathon did it, and rocked it! Thanks love!

The next day was Sunday, and we celebrated Angela's birthday with a cookout at the beach! I took approximately zero pictures because Johnathon and I were chasing Hadley EVERYWHERE. That girl has officially reached toddler hood, and the days of being held or sitting in one spot for longer than two minutes are long gone. She was walked all over the beach, greeted people, and even started begging for food until we got her her very own plate of cheese cubes. Then she was a happy camper! It was kind of ridiculous, although I too get cranky when there is cheese to be had, and I don't have a plate of it immediately in front of me so...no judgement there.

Monday was more cleaning, and organizing for Johnathon and I, and Hadley did a lot of this...

Then we finished up the evening by going on a little golf cart adventure. It's been awhile since we rented a golf cart and just drove around the island, so we decided to make a little night of it. We drove the golf cart to the finest restaurants Kwaj has to offer (Subway and Anthony's Pizza), and got ourselves some dinner before heading out in the golf cart!

Don't let Hadster's face fool you, she inhaled her pizza!!

After our dinner of champions we loaded into the cart and drove out to the golf course, where we checked out the Country Club and the putting green!

The putting green and Country Club

Looking out at the first hole

Hadley was desperately trying to figure out how to pick up all three balls at one time...

...no such luck

After the golf course, we headed out to North Point at the other end of the island to watch the sunset...

The best selfie we could get!

God gave us another gorgeous sunset

 

We even saw a little baby black tip shark chasing fish around the lagoon

We were about to pack it up and head home, but Hadley was loving the sunset and breeze and was giving us all kinds of great photo-ops, so we took advantage!

She saw a dog walking by...

and she LOVED IT!

 

Every good model needs a break

It was another fun weekend out here in paradise, and I'm glad that even though we are leaving soon, we are still doing our best to make the most of our time out here!

Tasty Tuesday: Brazilian Shrimp Stew

Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope y'all had a great weekend like we did out here! We had our hula show on Saturday which went really well, our friend Angela's birthday was Sunday, and we rounded out the weekend with a golf cart ride around the island followed by Game of Thrones. It was a perfect weekend in my book!

Since we are now at about 2 weeks and counting until we move back to the states, I am really trying to keep the grocery shopping and accumulation of stuff to a bare minimum. I hate throwing away food, and the idea of adding to our pantry, just to throw the items away in a week or two seems so wasteful to me. Because of this, I am in the market for healthy recipes (preferably in crock pot form) that don't require a whole lot of ingredients, but are still relatively good for me. One of my favorite recipes that checks off all these requirements is this Brazilian Shrimp Stew from one of my favorite recipe websites, I Breathe I'm Hungry.

Because I am ultra lazy when it comes to cooking in the kitchen, I opted to use fully cooked shrimp, and to throw all the ingredients in the crock pot for  2-3 hours instead of simmering it on the stove top, but to each their own! I also added a little avocado on top of my soup because when is adding avocado ever a bad idea?!?! The soup definitely has a kick to it so adjust the amount of Sriracha to your desired level of spice! 

Brazilian Shrimp Stew 

(adapted from I Breathe I'm Hungry blog) 

 

Ingredients

• 1½ lbs pre-cooked shrimp
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 clove garlic, minced
• ¼ cup roasted red pepper, diced
• ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• (1) 14 oz can diced tomatoes w/ chili's
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 2 Tbsp Sriracha hot sauce
• 2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
• salt and pepper to taste
• Avocado to garnish

Instructions

1. Add all the ingredients except the cilantro and avocado to the crock pot, and set the temperature to low. Cook until soup is hot (but not bubbling), and the shrimp is warmed through...about 2-3 hours.
2. Garnish with cilantro and avocado. Enjoy!

Notes

If you can't eat shrimp, you can substitute any mild white fish, or even chicken for the protein in this recipe and it will taste just as amazing!

Happy eating friends! I'll be back tomorrow to tell you all about our weekend!

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Friday Favorites

Oh, TGIF! This has been a busy, busy week of packing, selling, and trying to get organized for our big move back to the states! It's such an exciting time, but it is also incredibly stressful! We are making good progress though, and thankfully it looks like Johnathon won't be going to Honolulu for knee surgery next week, which really takes that extra level of craziness off of our whole situation! Since it's Friday, and we are going to be taking a break from all our packing this weekend to celebrate our friend Angela's birthday, and I get to perform in our long anticipated Hula show!! EEEEKKK I'M NERVOUS! But more on that in a bit, because it's time for me to link up with Andrea, Erika, and Narci for some Friday Favorites!

ONE

I never got around to recapping my Mother's Day, and I couldn't not share the sweet photo collage Johnathon made me for Mother's Day! I may or may not have casually reminded Johnathon that there wasn't a lot of fanfare surrounding Mother's Day in our house last year because...as he so earnestly told me..."But you're not my mom??!" Well, I gently informed him that I was Hadley's mom, and Mother's Day now applies to me too! :) I am happy to report that Mother's Day was celebrated with enthusiasm this year, and my day started off with a sweet card from Johnathon/Hadley and this awesome picture collage was waiting for me on the table! We spent that afternoon packing, but finished off the day with me putting my feet up while Johnathon made me this awesome Orange Chicken recipe that tasted just like Panda Express! (Don't judge...we don't have fast food here, and it's what I was craving!) A thoughtful gift to remind me of Hadley, and a day were I didn't have to cook is a perfect Mother's Day in my book!

TWO

Cecil & Lou Hot Pink Embroidered "Fiesta" dress

About five minutes after I found out that we were moving back to Texas, I set out to find Hadley a fiesta/Mexican mumu dress to wear when it is super hot this summer! Fortunately, last week was Cinco de Mayo so I had several options to pick from. I ended up going with this dress from Cecil & Lou and I can't wait for Hadley to rock this all summer long! 

THREE

I was so excited about moving back to Texas, that I spent the first weekend packing with a level of enthusiasm and intensity the likes of which my husband and most of the human race has never seen. I felt like if I could get everything packed right away then somehow that would get us home faster. Then I started getting to all the little crap that you have no idea what to do with, where it came from, or whether it has some sort of sentimental value to it or is worthless junk. That's pretty much where I'm at right now, and I still have more to go! So for now let me leave you with some e-cards that pretty much sum up my feelings on moving and packing...

THREE

Even though I am so excited to be moving back to Texas, I am really trying to soak up these last couple of weeks in our little island paradise, and to not take any of it for granted. Johnathon had to take a helicopter to work the other week, and took some really cool pictures of the islands in our atoll! It will be hard to ever find a place as naturally pretty as this...

  

FOUR

PB teen- Emily and Merritt bed of roses duvet cover

To say I am excited to find a house and start nesting would be a huge understatement. I have been waiting for this for so long, and I'm so excited to find our home and settle down! I have a pretty good idea of how I want our new house to look, but obviously I'm waiting to pick out specifics until we find a house, and I get to know the space. I have one room, however, that I can picture perfectly in my mind, and that is Hadley's room. I can see the exact color scheme, bedding...everything and I can't wait to get to decorating!  

Land of Nod Black Stripe Teepee

   

I Am His sign- House of Belonging

FIVE

Tomorrow is our big hula show that we have been preparing and practicing for MONTHS for!!! I am so excited, but the build up to this show has been so intense that I am starting to get super nervous! I'm also right in the front, and have this weird complex about what my face looks like when I dance! I'm worried I'm going to be focusing too much on toning down my axe murderer smile that I do when I get nervous, and not enough on my dance moves! I'm just ready for the show to be done and behind me! Wish me luck! 

Hope everyone has a great weekend!! xoxo 

Tasty Tuesday: Sugar n' Spice and Everything Nice Meatballs

Happy Tuesday everyone! I'm happy to report that I finished my Isagenix 30 day "cleanse" over the weekend and lost 10lbs! I didn't want to lose a ton of weight, but really wanted to take around 10-15lbs off in the hopes of losing the last little bit of baby weight! I'm back to eating regular meals now with a shake or two thrown in, but more or less I'm back to my non-shake diet, which means I'm in the market for more healthy meal options! 

If you've been tuning into the blog for awhile now then you know that my sister in law Deanna is a Beachbody coach, and is currently working toward her Holistic Nutrition degree! 

 

Isn't she the cutest?!

She always has delicious and healthy recipes to share, and most importantly she shares my love of meatballs! That sounds vaguely dirty, but go with it. I love them because they are a great source of protein with very little carbs involved. I can serve them to my husband over pasta, rice, or on a bun, and I can have mine with a side of veggies! Win, win!  Since it's been (gasp!) several weeks since we've shared a meatball recipe, we thought it was time to remedy that! 

I feel like most meatball recipes fall into either the Italian or Asian genre, so I loved these because they had the sweet and crispy outside coating from the brown sugar with a little spicy kick on the inside! A different and surprising twist on meatballs! Enjoy!

 

Brown Sugar-Glazed SPICY Meatballs

Ingredients

For the Meatballs:

·        2 lbs ground turkey

·        11/4 cup rolled oats

·        2 eggs, lightly beaten

·        1 teaspoon paprika

·        1 teaspoon mustard powder

·        1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (1/2 tsp if you’d like it less spicy!)

·        ½ teaspoon salt

·        ⅛ teaspoon fresh ground pepper, or to taste

·        1 teaspoon garlic powder

·        1 teaspoon dried oregano

For the Glaze:

·        ¾ cup light brown sugar

·        2 tablespoons white vinegar

·        1 tablespoon rice vinegar

Instructions

1.     Preheat oven to 350.

2.     Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

3.     In a large bowl, combine ground turkey, oats, eggs, paprika, mustard powder, cayenne pepper, salt, fresh ground pepper, garlic powder and oregano.

4.     Using a potato masher, mash until well combined and thoroughly incorporated.

5.     Shape mixture into 1-inch balls and place on previously prepared baking sheet. You may have to do this in two batches, depending on the size of your baking sheet.

6.     Bake for 18 minutes, or until cooked through.  I like to turn each meatball when there is approx. 5 minutes left.

Prepare the glaze when meatballs are done cooking.

1.     In a large, non-stick frying pan, combine brown sugar, white vinegar and rice vinegar.

2.     Add baked meatballs to the pan and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, tossing meatballs occasionally.

3.     Remove from frying pan.

4.     Serve.