50 States? 50 Blogs!: Hawaii

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(As you can imagine, there are no road signs that say "Welcome to Hawaii," so this is one from the Honolulu Airport.)

Hastings in Hawaii

First let me start by saying that it's been almost six months to the day since I wrote the last "50 States? 50 Blogs! post." (Never mind the fact that I haven't written a post in general in about two months. UGH!)

I've had a particularly hard time deciding on a blog to feature for Hawaii. There were a few that I liked OK...one stopped writing regularly (kind of like me!) and the other one just didn't wow me or feel worthy of me featuring (I take this VERY seriously!)

Since I joined Bloglovin', I've found that it's a good site to search for blogs/bloggers from specific states. I found Hastings In Hawaii via a search on Bloglovin' and knew that it was the one! I've had it in my back pocket for a while, but I had to hurry up and write about it, as it won't be "Hastings in Hawaii" much longer, but "Hastings in Nevada!" So, here we are.

The Hastings are Amelia (the blogger), Matt & furchildren, Bennett & Frankie. The Hawaii part is due to Matt being in the USMC and being stationed there. (Although, as I alluded to above, not for long! They'll be moving to Las Vegas in the near future.)

When I read Amelia's first post and saw "ate an entire bag of Fritos in one sitting," I knew it was Kismet. We'd get along just famously.

Amelia's blog is not your typical military family blog (in my opinion.) She certainly does talk about the challenges of military life, specifically deployments (Matt will be on deployment #3 in June), but she talks about "real life" stuff. (If you've been reading my "50 States? 50 Blogs? series, you'll know that these are the types of blogs I like to read and showcase.)

Here are some examples of "real life" for Hastings in Hawaii:

• Bennett (aforementioned furchild) had to have an emergency trip the vet due to urinary issues. (Turned out to be a UTI and Bennett was fixed up and returned to his normal self shortly thereafter.) In the post, Amelia shares Bennett's "rump shot" x-ray. TOO CUTE!

• Amelia shares her struggles with weight and going on and off Weight Watchers (which I can definitely relate to.) She not only shares her losses but also her gains. She's real about how tough it can be.

• Amelia also shares her struggle with social media, specifically Facebook and how it can "suck the life out of you" (my words...not hers, but I'm trying my hand at paraphrasing her feelings.) Not only do we have the fact that we could each eat a bag of Fritos in one sitting in common, but I believe our personalities are similar. In her post about quitting Facebook, she says this, "But the thing is, it can go from 0 to obsessive like THAT." Um yeah, that's me. I can sucked into the Facebook rabbit hole for hours and constantly checking, checking, checking. (I *might* also have an obsessive personality about stuff in general...)

• As I mentioned, Amelia does talk about military life and it's her posts about making friends and then losing them to new military assignments that are the most interesting to me. For those of us who are somewhat shy/introverted, the thought of making friends as an adult can be somewhat daunting, but then to know that you'll potentially have those friends taken away geographically? Tough.

• For me, one of the most "real"/moving posts is Amelia's letter to her dad near the anniversary of his death. It is the most eloquently written personal post I've ever read. I wonder how long it took Amelia to write it, because it's just so "right." I also love the fact that she ends the post/letter with this P.S.S.: 

"I'm glad you weren't around for The Talk. Seriously. Growing up in an all-female household definitely had a few perks."

:)

Things that caught my eye about this blog:

• It's gorgeous! I love love love the header and the fonts that Amelia uses. The pink background with the flower bouquets is awesome, too. Very pretty and not over the top.
• Great professional photo of her and Matt.
• The fact that it's not busy with headers, columns, etc..

Things on this blog that I'd like for my blog:

• see above 
• see above (except the photo would be of John & me. :)
• see above

I hope that Amelia keeps blogging once the move to Nevada happens. "Hastings in Nevada" doesn't have quite the same ring as "Hastings in Hawaii," but I have no doubt the content will be just as great!

Data Dump

Data dump.

It's one of those phrases that's in vogue at work.

Similar to other phrases in vogue at work, I really am not a fan of it.

To me, this is what I see when I hear "data dump:"

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A bunch of crap all thrown together.

No uniformity.

The papers in this picture are different colors, sizes, contain text/don't contain text, etc...

However, at work, it's meant to be a distinct set of data from a distinct set of fields...not just the kitchen sink. So, is "data dump" really the right terminology?

This is what I think about on my drive home (when trying to think of a blog post title.)

So, this is my data dump for today (everything INCLUDING the kitchen sink):

• Let's start on a positive note, shall we? Today is National Drink Wine Day. Bottoms up! (Another weird phrase).

(Plug: this wine is from the Traveling Vineyard. My friend Dana is a rep and you can visit her site here and order some vino.)

• Here's an up-to-the-minute weather report (completely neutral, of course):

Yes, snow. Again.

• I came home to only one window leaking due to ice dams on the roof, but newly plastered wall in basement is soaked. [insert sad face]. Here's what was happening last week at our front picture window:

• I kind of am in love with my 2015 Agenda. It's sunshine on a cloudy day:

• I'm completely underwhelmed with this season of Downton Abbey. The Dowager Countess makes me smile with her dry wit, but that's about it. I don't know if it's charm has just worn off for me...or what. 

SPOILER (turn back now if you're not caught up on Downton): 

I'm sad that Isis (the Crawley's dog) passed away. I loved that Cora & Robert wanted to sleep with Isis on his last night of life, but....would that really have happened in 1924? In England? Aristocratic England? Yeah..I didn't think so.

• On the other hand, the TV show, "Donnie Loves Jenny" is wacko. Completely wacko. I kind of liked Donnie Wahlberg better when I viewed him as a Boston guy that became famous by being in New Kids on the Block. I really don't like hearing about his bodily functions. Kind of ruins the picture.

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There's your dump. Data dump, that is.

The Writing's In the Snow

After this:

and this:

and forgetting my work laptop tonight (I had planned to do work at home),

I was led to feel like this:

(Of course, I would edit it to say, "...where I don't have to deal with any stupid people or mountains of snow.)

So, as they say, I saw the light.

Dawn broke over Marblehead (for you local yocals).

I woke up and smelled the coffee.

The PERFECT job/living situation has been right under my nose the whole time!!!

When John and I were in Aruba, as we walked up and down the beach, we noticed a man in the water cleaning the markers/buoys.

This is IT! It's got everything:

a) a warm climate

b) solitude (I can wear waterproof headphones and just nod at tourists [& sharks] as they pass by)

c) casual dress code

d) no shortage of work (unless barnacles become extinct)

e) variety (moving up and down the beach)

and who cares about the pay when you're in paradise!?!?!

If you're having a hard time visualizing it, imagine me being one of these people. (NOTE: I'd stipulate that I'm a one-woman show.)

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So, as they say in Papiamento (local language spoken in Aruba): AYO! (Goodbye!)

Disclaimer: This is all a pipe dream until we hit Powerball...or a generous donor steps forward.

Write On!

photo credit: Real Simple, December 2014, page 80. 

(And yes, I'm a librarian, but no, I don't feel like citing using MLA or APA. This is the KT quick cite method.)

As mentioned in my last post, I've been super busy of late. After Christmas, I decided to take the time to catch up on the ever growing pile of magazines on my nightstand.

I came across the above snippet in the December issue of Real Simple in the article named, "5 Old-Timey Rituals That Should Make a Comeback."

It really struck a chord with me. 

Back in the day I used to LOVE to write letters. In junior high, I had penpals in Canada, Sweden, and France. In high school, I began corresponding with penpals in Ohio and Pennsylvania. (FYI: I still keep up with most of them via Facebook now.)

As long distance calls were expensive for a college student, I'd often write letters to my friends back home. When I left my first college, I kept in touch with the friends I'd made via, you guessed it, letters.

Judith Martin (aka Miss Manners) is right on the money. While phone calls, texting, and social media have their place in today's society (I certainly don't disagree with that), there is still a place for the handwritten note.

I haven't sent Christmas cards for the past two years due to being so busy and I've mourned the loss of writing notes in the cards to those that I don't see or talk to very often. 

Well Miss Manners, mission accomplished. 

I've decided that I will write a handwritten/personal note in each birthday card I send this year (and yes, I still send those.) It may make me late in sending them, but so be it.

Do you still write letters? Notes in cards? Actually send cards?

This Is How Busy I've Been

(Note: It's typically against my better judgment to share a photo of my toes with the world, but in this case, I'm making an exception.)

I got a pedicure with my Mom in Florida while visiting them in November.

As most women know, pedicures do last a good long while.

At some point in late December, I decided that the pedicure had seen better days and started to take the polish off.

"Started to" being the key phrase here.

I got distracted -- something happened -- the phone rang, someone texted me, or someone needed me for something.

So, yeah, I'm walking around with these toes.

John said to me last night (having just noticed), "You're not going to bed like that, are you?" He's a funny man.

New Year's Resolution: Remove polish from toes on right foot!

Late to the [Proverbial] Party

For the record, I'm usually early or on time for parties, which some might say is much worse than being late.

This post is about the proverbial party...the blog lover's party.

I love reading blogs of all kinds -- cooking, family, pet, exercise.

Up until recently, I simply had them bookmarked and would check each one every so often. This got to be quite time consuming, as I amassed quite a few (thanks Pinterest!)

I would be wasting time going to each blog when only some of them had new posts.

Enter my friend Crystal from My Ramblings. (Speaking of which, CRYSTAL: you need to get back to blogging regularly! :)

She mentioned that she uses Bloglovin to keep track of the blogs she reads.

I decided to check it out.

It's awesome and SUPER simple to use!

Go to bloglovin.com and set up an account (if I recall, this only involves giving an email address and thinking up a password.)

Then, start finding the blogs you read.

You can type a blog's URL into the search box and it will bring back (more than likely) a bunch of results, but usually for the same blog. I'm unsure of why this is (naming differences?), but I went ahead and picked the result that had the largest amount of followers (there's strength in numbers!).

It then adds it to your feed. You can add as many or as few as you like.

Then, sign in when you feel like it and you'll see new posts from those blogs on your feed.

I find the last post that I remember seeing and work my way up through the newer posts.  It's cool because I get the blog post title, the first few sentences, and generally a photo from the post.

If I'm not interested, I move on and I don't have to waste time visiting the blog.

If I want to read a post, I simply click on it and it opens it up in a Bloglovin frame.

So, as the title of this post indicates, I'm probably the last person on Earth to discover Bloglovin. However, if any of my few readers haven't checked it out -- you should!

50 States? 50 Blogs!: Georgia

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A Boomer Girl's Guide

Georgia...on my mind.

I'm on a midnight train to Georgia.

It's a rule...you HAVE to say those two lines when talking about the state of Georgia.

This post has been in draft form for...well, let's not say how long, shall we? And because it's been so long, I honestly have no recollection how I stumbled across this blog. Now that we've established that I'm slow in writing/posting and have a bad memory, let's move along, shall we?

As the name of the blog indicates, Juhli (the blogger) is a baby boomer. (And yes, I had to go to Wikipedia to make sure I was clear on what ages that specifically covered.) Those born between 1946 & 1964 are considered to be baby boomers. While I'm not considered part of this generation, my parents are and I've recently begun thinking about the next phase of John's and my life -- retirement. (We haven't hit Powerball yet, so I don't think we'll be quitting our jobs tomorrow, but it's always good to think ahead.)

Speaking of thinking ahead, Juhli has written some posts that have helped me in this regard and gotten me thinking about and interested in planning for the retirement phase. (I've even added some retirement-like books to my "to read" list.) Eek.

Another interesting subject/subjects that Juhli writes about are decluttering and only buying things needed. She keeps detailed records about what she's shed from her house and in turn, what she's allowed to come into her house. Bless her heart, she's even done a no spend challenge. (I'm not from the South, but since this post is about a southern blog, I felt it necessary to throw out that a "bless her heart."

Even though we may not be in the same generation, Juhli and I have something in common -- volunteering! (Which I will eventually blog about.) We both are involved in the Friends' group for our local public library. As we're just getting underway at our library, I find Juhli's volunteer posts interesting, specifically ones about book sales.


Things that caught my eye about this blog:

• Tabs at the top of the blog. I especially like the Helpful Reading tab, which gives recommended reading on a variety of subjects germane to retirement -- decluttering, aging, happiness, money, etc...
• Aesthetically pleasing background. The coral color with bird silhouettes is simple, yet beautiful.

Things on this blog that I'd like for my blog:

• The tabs at the top of the blog that I mention above.
• A "theme" for each year. Juhli's theme for her 65th year is PUSH. I think it's great to have a theme/goals in writing as a constant reminder.

While the subjects of retirement and aging aren't my usual blog fare, I enjoy being exposed to these topics and in some small way starting to prepare myself for these things. 

Oh, and did I mention she's a thrift store shopper? I think we'd get along famously "in real life." (Until I wanted to buy something and she'd kindly remind me to only buy what I need...lol.)