"Life on an island", the do's and don'ts

 A sunset on Oahu feels less like something you watch and more like something you enter. Sitting on the sand with the palms swaying overhead, the whole scene slows down until it feels like the island is breathing with you. As the sun drops toward the horizon, the light shifts in layers. The ocean reflects every shade back at the sky, doubling the color until it feels like you’re surrounded by it. From the beach, you can see how the light touches everything differently: the curve of the shoreline, the silhouettes of surfers paddling in for one last wave, the distant outline of the mountains turning a dusky blue. Even the sand seems to shift tone as the sun sinks lower. Palm trees on Oahu aren’t just scenery they’re part of the rhythm of the sunset. Their shadows stretch long across the sand, and their leaves rustle with the evening breeze. When the sky turns fiery, the palms become dark shapes against the color, almost like brushstrokes in a painting. Watching the sun drop behind th...

 After you eat garlic, do people turn away from you or try to avoid talking to you altogether? Do you feel like your breath is not as fresh as it was this morning? Try this refreshing sweet treat to take that unsatisfying taste out of your mouth. When you unwrap the ends and open the packaging, you can smell that it is going to be a refreshing experience. When you taste the fresh, sweet flavor, it is like your mouth just went on vacation to a cool, refreshing mountain top. You can feel the refreshing breeze through your hair, and your mouth just wants to sing on the mountaintops. It is like you are the best singer in the world, just letting your voice echo over the mountains. As it dissolves in your mouth, you come to the end of your solo. Then you can talk to people without them wanting to run away from you. Taste the refreshing goodness of that sweet treat. 

There's a particular vibe to living on Oahu that you don't fully understand until you've been there long enough for the island to set your pace. At first, everything feels like a postcard; the beaches, the mountains, the sunsets that look edited even when they're not. But once you are settled in, you start to notice the quieter things in life, like the early morning surfers, the people out early in the morning exercising, the sunrise when walking along Lanikai beach, the gentle breeze while relaxing on the beach after work at sunset. These are some details that actually define what it feels like to live on Oahu.  Waikiki Beach What makes this lifestyle meaningful isn't just the scenery; it's the way the island forces you to change your mind about time. People talk about Hawaii having a slower pace of life and "island time", but it's not about being slow and more about being intentional. You learn to leave earlier because the traffic doesn't car...

  I love going hiking and being outdoors. This is from 2022 on a trip to southern Utah. My husband is my hiking partner, and we love going off the trail at times to see what we sometimes can't see from the normal trail, as long as we don't travel too far off the beaten path. We just love getting outdoors; there are so many wonderful places to explore. This was on a fall hike after moving back to Utah in 2020. This was taken on a trail in Provo Canyon; I just love the color of the fall leaves. The colors were so vibrant, it was such a nice day for a hike. We found a tree with initials carved into it. This is my husband's and my first initial to our first names, which was pretty trippy. We did not carve this into this tree; it was found just like this, as if it was put there for us to see. We had only moved to Utah a few months prior to this picture being taken and had never been on this trail before. The grandkids enjoy hiking too. This was a rather cold day, so it was a sho...

 My review of two different blog shows how people are all human, but we can live very different lives.  The first blog I checked out TMZ. I am not a Hollywood celebrity fan, so you probably already know this blog was not one I liked. The page was very flashy, with lots of picture and headlines: it's overwhelming. It is for entertainment, and people who like to keep up with celebrity lifestyles will probably love this one. This blog shows celebrities in concerts, going to the Grammy Awards, and other events that everyday working people have probably never attended.  https://www.tmz.com/photos/2026/02/02/grammy-afterparties/ Celebrity News | Entertainment News | TMZ.com The second blog I reviewed shows a woman and her travels overseas while taking a sabbatical from her law job for a year, and how it turned into a new adventure and job for her. She goes on to write a book, "The Food Travelers Handbook", which is about different foods from around the world. This blog was more...