Da Kine

So in preparation for my Big Hawaii Trip I'm learning all the necessary lingo, and researching my butt off about what to do on the Big Island. Last time I went to Hawaii we stayed on Kauai and Oahu, but this time the main portion of our trip is on the actual Island of Hawaii. Da Kine is Hawaiian for that Stuff. It would be used to refer to your favorite things. So here are the favorite things we are looking at exploring so far on our upcoming adventure! Comment below which one you would want to do the most! And stay tuned for details to come about my Gifts from Hawaii giveaway! And speaking of giveaways I was the lucky winner of a fabulous prize package from The Beauty Snoop curtesy of Gentri Lee. This is my second ever giveaway that I won and it has inspired me to do my own so stay tuned! Ok on with the list!

1. Lava Boat Tour:
I know the picture looks a little scary, but I mean really, steaming vents and random lava bench collapses aren't that scary right? Sulfuric acid in my lungs what?? haha! Ok so this one is going to take some convincing of the hubs as we might most certainly die... but can you imagine the photo ops??? I'll do anything for a good picture!

2. Punalu'u Black Sand Beach:

One of the best things about volcanic islands unique ecosystem is black sand beaches. I grew up with "pink sand" which is basically crushed up shells. But this is all volcanic rock that has eroded and softened over time. COOL. And it makes all the vibrant colors of the island POP! Plus black reflects more light which means I will tan better on a black sand beach no??

3. Akaka Falls:

442 ft waterfall. Need I say more?

4. KECK Observatory

You didn't really think there wouldn't be some sort of space thing on my list did you?? Come on now, you know me better than that! This is probably one of the things I am most looking forward to. You get in a jeep and drive up to a base camp and the observatory visitors center at about 9-10,000 ft and have a dinner while you acclimatize. Then you go the rest of the way up to watch the dome doors open on the worlds most powerful telescope and to watch the sun set at 14,000 feet! After taking in the view from the top you go back down to base camp for an observing session. Basically it's the best view of heaven on earth. AWESOME.

So if you were coming with, what would be number 1 on your list?? Comment below!

XOXO
The Mrs. 

YouTube Find of the Week

GUYS! I found this video tonight on YouTube. It is amazing for so many reasons:
1. It's a cover of one of my Mr's Mission Buds band!
2. This chick has some mad violin skills
3. See reasons 1 and 2.

Being a former violinist I can really respect the amount of talent it takes to play like this! Enjoy! Her name is Lindsey Sterling and she is amazing!




XOXO The Mrs.

Once every 100 million years...

Tonight my Mr. and I got to experience something that the Earth won't get to see again for another 100+ million years. We got to see the Comet Pan STARRS. It was so awesome! My Dad had told me about the opportunity to see the comet just a few nights ago and so I started doing some research to see where it would be located in the sky etc. (space.com was an excellent source) So tonight when we got home from work we hit up our local Five Guys while we waited for the Sun to set and then headed West. 

Comet Hunters! 

Living in NOVA it's hard to find a spot that is high, not developed, and doesn't have lots of trees. We just kind of started driving West. I'll admit I was telling my Mr. to just give up and turn around after a while. I thought for sure we had missed it already. But he just kept going and lo and behold we crested a hill and found a few other people in a parking lot that perfectly, I mean perfectly, looked west, which of course was exactly what we needed! I couldn't of asked for a more perfect location! Thanks for not giving up babe! The unique thing about viewing the comet tonight was that it was going to be very close to the Moon and thus easier to find for the unexperienced astronomer! It was also really low towards the horizon so a clear sky was a must. 

This is the spot we watched it from. the moon had just become visible in this picture. But as far as locations go, we couldn't of asked for more. The moon is pretty much microscopic in this picture. 

I was really glad the other people that were there brought binoculars or we might not have been able to see the comet!! 

 If you want to take part of this once in a lifetime, literally,  you still can! The comet will be visible again for the next week or so but it is fading fast as it travels on it's orbit away from the Sun. Check Space.com for updates on viewing of this comet and for information on the stunner we are supposed to get to see in November! The chart below is from Space.com:

Happy Hunting!

XOXO The Mrs.

March Snow brings??

So I've been living in the DMV area for close to a year and a half. And I came from South Eastern Idaho. In the time I've bee living here I have not gotten to observe a real good winter snow. It's snowed a little, and I've been out to West Virginia and Maryland in the mountains to see the snow. But it hasn't snowed here, where I live. Well tomorrow might be the day!! We are expecting Snowmegedon 2013 here! According the the forecast:

I'll keep you guys posted! It's totally laughable compared to Idaho where I used to live, but weather here is always more dramatic some how! Hopefully we don't lose power which they are saying is likely. BOO! I like severe weather but only when it doesn't affect me! HAHA!

XOXO The Mrs.

93.1 Da Pa'ina

So ever since our Cruise we took for our Honeymoon I have really been loving listening to Reggae music. I love being home by the ocean and listening to island music on the radio. Unfortunately I don't live in Florida anymore or anywhere remotely close to the Caribbean that I love. So my solution was an app called Radio Alarm. It allows you to live stream radio stations from all around the world. Well in browsing their selection of Reggae stations I came across 93.1 Da Pa'ina last summer. It has seriously become a staple in my music choices. I listen to it at work almost every day. It is amazing the stress relief a little Bob Marley can bring to your work day. So we had just come back from our exciting adventures in Florida and I completely and totally have had the Winter blues. I miss the sunshine, I miss the beach, and I miss being tan and warm. I miss fresh seafood and that salty ocean breeze. So I of course turned on my little app and was listening to my radio station. 

And I thought, hmm I wonder... What does it cost to fly to Hawaii these days? I've been twice before and it was under $500 then. But with this economy I expected it to be like $2000+ just for airfair. Well I looked it up and it was only like $980 (still a lot I know, but it is Hawaii folks) . So I did what any rational person would do and texted my Dad and said, want to go to Hawaii?? 

YOLO

I am ecstatic to announce that we will be taking a 12 day trip to Hawaii this Summer! Listening to the radio pays off folks.  We will spend the main part of our trip on the Big Island and then will spend 2 days and 1 night on Oahu. I CAN"T WAIT! IT'S GOING TO BE SO AWESOME!!!!! 

Stay tuned for details of what we will be doing and seeing while we are there!

XOXO The Mrs. 

Parties, Boarding, and Dip

Once again, the award for Biggest Slacker to Blog goes to... Me.  I swear I want to be so on top of my Blog, especially since my pal Gentri Lee created this awesome new look for me, you should all go read her blog instead of mine. She does awesome give aways and is just pretty much perfect. But alas I have been too busy living life to post about it. So here is a massive catchup once again: 

January was very busy for us. As soon as we got back from our trip we moved. Like within 2 weeks. John also changed Jobs from SAIC to BAE, a move we were both amazed and excited about. My Company had their Annual Holiday Bash, which was so fun, and we actually got snow! 

Me with my 3 favorite PA's from the office and our Husbands. These girls seriously rock my socks off on a daily basis. 

Finally some winter weather shows its face!

 February was a good month too! My team finally went to the Super Bowl, and WON! Holy Batman it was awesome. Seriously everyone saw that right? Those birdies were on FIRE!!! 

We also got to go on a Snowboarding Adventure with our good friends Hilda and Adam. It was a very eventful day with lots and twists and turns, our alternator gave out in a blizzard, but we made it to the slopes eventually via a pit stop in West Virginia and Maryland, and it was perfect snow. Alls well that Ends well right? 

 Hilda and I Shredding it on the Bunny Hill. 

 My Mr. is so Gangster. 

The "mountain" all lit up. It was snowing so hard on our way home. So grateful that we all made it safe. Yay 4 wheel drive. 

My new favorite dish that came out of this Winter is a greek dip. My boss and the billing manager at work introduced me to this little gem. It is SO good and creamy and delicious. I seriously can crush a whole box of Wheat Thins on it. And it is SO SO SO easy to make.

Greek Dip:
1 box feta cheese (however much you want really)
1 brick of cream cheese(8oz) softened
1 jalapeno seeded and chopped roughly

Combine everything in a food processor and blend until smooth and creamy, you can add a little water or milk if it seems to be too thick. It takes about 5-10 minutes for it to really get thin like it should be. It is supper yummy and an awesome party snack. Just don't count calories when you eat it...

XOXO The Mrs.

Welcome to 2013!

Whelp it's not a Buckle family vacation without a trip to Disney. We decided to go to EPCOT because we thought it would be the least crowded. We went on New Years Eve. It was wonderful, but crowded. It had warmed up a lot since our HP experience which I liked! It was pretty relaxing just strolling the world showcase with my family. I miss doing this ALL the time. 

Visting America in America. 

 They were handing out free new years hats and noise makers. It was awesome! Everyone was celebrating starting at like 5pm! 

 After a walk around the world showcase we headed to our family's favorite spot Beaches and Cream for a traditional No Way Jose. I'm telling you if you do nothing else at Disney go to Beaches and Cream and get Ice Cream. It's amazing. Peanut Butter and Chocolate Heaven. 

Us on the Dock at the Yacht Club. I feel so lucky to be able to share my childhood favorites with this awesome man. LOVE YOU HUBS! Happy New Year and bring on 2013!! Disney as always scores and A+. 

XOXO The Mrs. 

Year End in Review Pt. 3

I've been hesitate on how to handle this particular part of our trip. Because it was equally awesome and not awesome. After going to Kennedy Space Center(awesome) we went over to Orlando and checked into our amazing Hilton Hotel - Parc Soleil. It had a huge kitchen and living room and 2 suite rooms. BEAUTIFUL. Also, it was maybe the penthouse. What can I say, My Mom knows how to travel instyle! We of course had the obligatory luggage cart races  as well... 

So as you can see the Hotel was A++

My Mom and I have been dying to go to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It has looked so amazing in all the commercials and since we are both HUGE fans of the books we wanted to go. My Mom however had 1 stipulation. She did NOT want to go in the Summer. She wanted to go when it was cold out so that people would be bundled up like they really would be if we were in England. HAHA so funny. Well she got her wish. It was a brisk 35 ALL DAY LONG.

My Mom grinning and bearing the cold for the ultimate Harry Potter Experience! 

We waited 3 hours outside in the freezing cold to get into the Hogwarts Castle. This is where the trip gets kind of rocky. While everything was super detailed and amazing looking. I mean really they did a fantastic job on EVERY little detail. What really was lacking was organization by the park staff. It was like they had no clue how to help people form a line. It was such chaos and people were ducking and weaving and walking all around, it was right after Christmas so of course it was super busy and they just were very incompetent. It was a big disappointment. I would recommend going in the Off Season and going first thing in the morning as they had maxed capacity on all of the stores and building by 11am. It's a little ridiculous when you have to wait in line to go into a gift shop...

 The Castle = A+, The Lines and Staff = D-

It was so crazy, the line to get on the ride was a 3 hour wait outside, and as soon as you got inside the castle there was no one in the line. It was taking so long because they were only letting people into the castle at certain times. Rediculous. Like I said, poor planning by the park on how to deal with crowds... Just saying they would never have wasted space like that at Disney. 

 It was super impressive how massive they made the Castle look considering it was actually quite small. The ride inside was ok, but it is definitely not for those that get motion sick. 

Olivander's was really a cool experience, but at the same time super Cheesy. Not sure it was worth the hour long wait to get inside. 

 The Hog's Head was probably one of the better parts of the day. The food was very authentic, even if the Butter beer was WAY too sweet and kinda gross. It also was a very cozy eccentric pub, which I thought was perfect. Again the attention to detail was just simply amazing. 

Not sure I will ever travel to Hogwarts again outside of my books, but it was worth at least 1 trip to see the shops, which I couldn't even get pictures of because it was so crowded. Oh well. My Honey Dukes Jar was an awesome souvenir and once it is unpacked I'll post a picture! 

XOXO The Mrs. 

Year End in Review Pt. 2

So for those of you that have known me for a while or know my family, you know that my Dad and I love Astronomy. My dad has his masters in Astrophysics and has been an Astronomer since long before I was born. He does voluntary research for Lowell Observatory in Arizona. So I was very excited when we talked about going to Kennedy Space Center over Christmas Break to avoid theme park lines! It had been years since I'd gone to Kennedy Space Center and since the space program is no longer active you can go and see all sorts of great things that you wouldn't have been able to before. We took the Bus tour out to the Launch pads and explored the rocket gardens as well as the Saturn IV rocket. I would highly recommend a trip to Kennedy Space Center. It was awesome! 

 The VAB , Vehicle Assembly Building.

 My leading Men! I love my husband and my Dad! We had such a great time and we actually ended up getting annual passes so we will get to go back again this fall when we go back to Florida! 

 This is the actual gangway that the astronauts walked across for the Apollo 11 mission. It was so neat that we got to walk across it. 

I can't imagine being hurled towards the earth like this. BLAH! Can we say motion sickness???? 

Sunset over the Rocket Garden. It was Beautiful. 

XOXO The Mrs.