Back from vacation

It's been an amazing week.  Friday to Friday, we spent a lovely seven days in Oahu.  Plenty of relaxation, but lots of exciting events as well.

In a moment of insanity, I found the courage to go skydiving.  I purposely booked it for earlier in the week because I wanted to get it out of the way.  Surprisingly, I wasn't scared.  Not until the moment when my instructor told me to head towards the door of the plane at 14,000 feet.  Yep, I had just enough time to think, "What the hell am I doing?" and I was out the door.  No time to react - we were out and free falling.  It was surreal.  I just remember feeling extremely cold, and the photographer waving to me, and me waving back.  I think the free fall was for about a minute and then the parachute was deployed.

My instructor, Dan, was awesome.  He let me "steer" by pulling on the cables and we did a couple of spirals.  It was crazy.  Before I knew it, the ground was coming towards us and my feet were on the blessed ground again. This was one big thing off my bucket list.  

Another incredible thing off my list was swimming with the dolphins.  Honestly, I think I was more excited about this than the skydiving.  All my life, I had never been the lucky little girl who was chosen to pet the killer whale or to pose with the sea lions at those marine parks.  This trip, my dream came true.  We got into a lagoon (albeit man-made, at a hotel) and had the ultimate dolphin encounter for 30 full minutes.  Almost the entire time, we were touching, feeding, playing with, and learning about these wonderful creatures.  Ultimately, I got my wish, a picture of me kissing a dolphin.  I was in love.  The most amazing moment was when I was posing with my husband with the dolphin and we both had our hands underneath him - we felt that strong heartbeat.  I can't even describe how powerful it was feeling that pulse.

This trip also gave us the opportunity to visit the USS Arizona Memorial, which we missed during our last trip to Oahu six years ago.  Sure we all studied WWII in school, but nothing brings it home to you like this.  I didn't know what to expect, but I certainly didn't think it would affect me like this.  The memorial and the entire park is so well done.  Very respectful.  Very moving.  The day we visited, there were four survivors of the USS Arizona signing autographs.   My heart went out to them.  It's hard to imagine anyone having to live through the horror they witnessed back in 1941.  We payed our respects at the USS Arizona memorial, and also toured through the Battleship Missouri and USS Bowfin submarine.  

Aside from a lot of eating, we did one last 'fun' adventure.  Whale watching!  Not five minutes out of the dock, our boat came across a mother and her calf.  It was awesome!!!  Never thought we'd see something so quickly, but then it's lucky that we saw them, because we didn't encounter any other whales in the two hour ride. 

Seven days and a lot of pounds later, we're home.  Lots of experiences that we will never forget, and planning more for the next time we get to head back to Oahu. 

Two posts in one day!

This is definitely a record, considering I submitted a whopping eight posts last year (compared to previous years).  Don't know if I'll get to my cooking challenge this month (because of vacation and all), but I did make something new yesterday that turned out to be FABULOUS!!!

Honey Dijon mustard pork chops with bacon.  Oh yeah, pork on pork baby.  So, so good.  I saw it on Giada at Home and did a smaller version of her pork roast.  Dijon mustard, honey, garlic, and rosemary.  Slather that mixture all over the pork chops (that have been seasoned with salt and pepper, of course).  Then drape bacon slices over the meat.  Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.  

The crispy, salty bacon paired with the sweet honey mustard spread.  Heavenly.  Try it!  You'll love it!

Checking them off one by one...

I don't know what it is.  Something in the air?  Something with the craziness that started the year 2010? Things are irking me today. 

Every day there is news that reminds me of the reasons I don't like reading up on the latest in the world.  People are intolerant, devastating earthquakes everywhere, ridiculous scandals that are really no ones business but with the people involved. 

With that said, I'm looking forward to some peace... Getting away from all this BS that is the world today.  I'll be away on a beach with a never ending supply of frosty Pina Coladas in my hand.  Yep, I'm headed to Oahu, HI.  We had plans to go about a year ago, but with Monte being sick, we canceled all vacation plans to stay with our baby.   It's time to let go of the world and enjoy paradise now.

With this trip, I will be knocking out a couple of things from my 'bucket list'.  If anything, my list is of things I would like to do in my lifetime.  They're all doable, though most require a bit of planning and saving.  

So, what am I checking off the list from this trip? Skydiving.  Yes, I'm going to throw myself from a plane.  Like I said, I don't know what it is with this year, but suddenly I've found a burst of courage (this as I'm sitting in the safety of my office).  And to clarify, when I say "throw myself from a plane", I mean me being attached to an instructor and screaming for my mommy as he pushes us out of the door.  Yeah... I don't know what I'm thinking, but I made the reservations already.  I'm gonna do it!

Another thing off the list is swimming with dolphins.  This is something I've wanted to do since our last trip to Oahu so many years ago.  Money was definitely the reason for us NOT doing it last time, and I've been kicking myself ever since.  This trip, there's no stopping me.  I'm going to get a picture of me kissing a dolphin. 

The rest of the trip is unplanned (except for some must try food places) and low key, as it should be.  

When we come back, I'm checking off a third item from the list.  A cooking class!  I've always wanted to take one.  Who knew Williams-Sonoma offers FREE classes?  I sure didn't.  I'm going to learn how to bake pies and tarts.  Yep!  I'm excited.

Lastly, we're heading up to Lake Tahoe soon - a little late for the season, I know.  I'm going to attempt snowboarding.  OMG!  I'm more nervous about that than skydiving.  Seriously.  Skydiving, if anything went wrong, well, it's done.  With snowboarding, I could get hurt... and have to recover.  Ugh.

The last time I was on the mountain, it was my first time skiing again after my knee injury.  I had a really difficult time.  I couldn't get past the fear of getting hurt again.  The mind is such a powerful thing.  I took a really bad fall toward the end of my run, and I took off those darn skis.  I may try again some day, who knows.  I didn't suck at skiing.  I actually picked it up fairly quickly.  But of the few times I did fall, I fell hard.  Hard enough to really shake my confidence.  

I really do want to try snowboarding though.  It looks like so much fun.  And honestly, I'd rather carry one cool board around than two skis and two poles.  I really want to learn some type of winter sport.  My hubby skis.  And while I will never get to his level (black diamonds), I would like to enjoy time in the snow and feel that rush of wind/adrenaline again.

So, in the next few weeks, I'll be able to check off four times from my bucket list.  I'm really excited about it and I'm glad I'm finally doing things off that darn list.  The list only gets longer as I think of new things, but that's OK as long as I'm actively checking things off from there too.

Without question, I am getting the picture/DVD package with the skydiving.  Will post when I get them.  ACK!  I'm going skydiving y'all!!!  If you hear something that sounds awfully like a blood curdling scream on Sunday morning... yeah, that would be me.

BTW...

The boeuf bourguignon turned out to be a success last month (January).  Each day that went by after the initial meal just got better and better.  Isn't that just how stews go?  Leftovers are a great thing.  

The recipe (from Mastering the Art of French Cooking) was very easy.  Every step carefully planned out to bring the dish together like a puzzle.  I have to admit, preparation was key.  I had all my ingredients laid out and ready to go.  That really helped.  Other than a lot of steps in the beginning (and timing), it was just 1, 2, 3, 4... 

January - Boeuf Bourguingon = Success.

February - Roast lamb = Success.

Last minute AGAIN!

My goodness!  Why do I do this to myself?  February seemed to just drag on and on, and before I knew it, it was the last weekend of the month!  Did I cook anything from my Cooking Goals list?  Nope.  Had I even picked anything yet?  Nope.  Last minute decision, roast lamb.  I couldn't find lamb shank like I wanted, so we ended up with a lamb roast.  Close enough. 

I usually read the recipe beforehand, but again, got lazy and only printed it out when I was ready to cook on Saturday afternoon.  Focus in on two words that blew my plans...Marinate overnight.  Ah well... no lamb on Saturday.

After a full night of marinating in a whole bottle of red wine, almost a full head of garlic, and lots of lemon juice and various spices, our purple lamb was finally in the oven.  Yep, the wine turned the meat purple.  Kinda gross, but also amusing.  Two hours later, along with preparing some sauteed mushrooms and some Mediterranean style couscous, we had a fantastic meal. 

So, I just made the deadline - AGAIN.  

Not sure what do to for March yet.  We're heading off to Oahu in three weeks (so excited).  I may need to exchange one of my listed dishes for something a bit lighter.  I just realized that I'm picking off all the meat dishes first and then what's left is a lot of cream based desserts.  Hmmm...