Philly Fun.

While in Maryland, I did a quick road trip to Philadelphia specifically for a Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich with my two brother in laws and my baby sister Ashley.  We woke up at 4:30am and were on our way before the sun even rose.  With a breakfast of raw carrots and broccoli, we crossed through 3 states until we got to Independence Hall.... before everything was open.

(The most amazing rest stop EVER.)

(I'm no football fan but I love that all of the sports arenas are all next door to each other.  It would suck if there were a hockey game, a baseball game AND a football game all on the same night!  Thanks heavens all 3 don't overlap!)

We knew we'd get there before we could get food so we thought we'd enjoy some American History.  We ended up getting back into the car and driving to Valley Forge while we waited.  We did the driving tour after checking out the museum and gift shop, per my request.  Simply amazing what these men lived in/through.

(The Unknown Soldier and The Eternal Flame.  Speechless.)

Upon return to our original history lesson, we visited The Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, The Unknown Soldier's Tomb and The Eternal Flame, and more.  Simply amazing to be in the same halls as the men of independence.  I love the feeling of history coming alive, which is why I'm part History major.  It's just amazing to imagine these important events happening right where I'm standing!

(Independence Hall and George Washington.)

After our tours we got back into the car and headed for Geno's (suggested by my dad's good friend, Bobby Bear) and partook in a delicious cheesesteak (mine with onions).  Talking with Chris, we decided it was a good thing we went to Geno's since they claim to be "the best" in Philly.  That is until he looked across the street at Pat's, which is apparently "the king" of cheesesteaks.  Dang it!  Well, I had to do it.  After all, how often do I go to Philadelphia?  Exactly.  So, I gave my cup of soda to Seanie to hold while I ordered another cheesesteak from Pat's (this time sans onions since we were taking it to go along with the rest of the girls').

In the end, I vote that Geno's is correct in that they are the best between the two locations.  Mmmm!

All of these photos were taken from my phone because I forgot my camera battery charger. :(  For more photos, see Ashley's facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=289869&id=507759098

East Coast Babies.

January 26, 2011 my 4th niece, Nixie Rose, was born.  She is the second daughter of my younger sister Tiffer and her husband Seanie.  Yes, these are the sibling I lived with in Hawaii and they are the same that have inspired me to move to the East Coast.

(Introducing, sweet baby Nixie!)

(Auntie Hollie with both the babies, Jaiden and Nixie.)

(Tiffer's talent at work!)

 Just kidding.  Well, maybe someday, but they'll probably be gone by then.

I took a red eye flight with Traci, her husband Chris and Gina, and of course, didn't sleep a wink even with the Ambien sleeping pill I took.  The morning we landed was Jady's 2nd birthday.  Our plan was to meet Nixie, the newborn, and help celebrate Jady's birthday.  Oh and there was a quick trip planned with me and the boys and Ashley in there to drive to Philadelphia to get a real cheesesteak.  (I have been to Philly once but was too afraid to even get out of the car except to go to the hockey arena, lol!)

(We had a lot of fun wrestling on the air mattress.)

(The younger half.)

(The Benincosa Babes.)

(Jady tries taking pictures with her new Disney Princess camera.)

(No surprise to see this little girl singing!)

(For the kids, Seanie and Chris made a maze of boxes.  Ash was one of the kids.)

(Ash and I stayed up all night waiting for the snow.  when it finally started to come down, we ran out, coats bundled over our jammies!)

(Seanie built a ramp and totally landed it, lol! It a was a fun, little one, too!)

Success!  We conquered all of the above!  We even had a snow day our last day there and were able to play in the backyard, sledding on trashcan lids, throwing snowballs and making snow angels!  Thanks to Seanie, we all made use of his multiple pairs of snow pants!  It was such a blast being with every one of my sisters again!  That doesn't happen too often anymore these days, unfortunately.

I'll post the Philly road trip pictures later after I steal them from Ashley's camera.  If you're impatient, they're on my Facebook page, lol!

Christmas with the Obamas...

Ok, I know it's New Years, but I needed to post about Christmas in Hawaii with no presents first. Yes, that's right.  I said no presents.  *GASP!*  I know, right??  Not even stockings!  It was my first Christmas without a stocking :(  *TEAR*

(Traci, Ashley and I after walking around aimlessly looking for the beach.  We never found it but stumbled on this giant Christmas tree!)

So, instead of buying presents for each other like we usually do, we decided to take that money and put together brown lunch sacks full of goodies for the homeless people in Ala Moana Park.  These packages included thins like McDonalds gift certificates ($5 per bag), shampoos and conditioners, toothpaste, mouthwash, razors, clementine oranges, candy and more.

But before the big day of Christmas, we volunteered at a women's shelter for Christmas Eve dinner.  It was fun putting on the plastic aprons, gloves and hair nets and seeing how silly we all looked in them!  It was such a great feeling though serving others in need.  My favorite was seeing this adorable little girl walking around beaming because she had a cupcake with HUGE amounts of frosting!  The people that work the facility are so humble and just amazing people.  If I still lived there, I would go and help out more... Although I'm sure there are plenty of places around here I can find!  That's on my list!

When we got back to the villa we stayed in, we assembly lined the presents for the homeless with smiles on our faces as we decorated each bag with stickers and markers.  It had been a long day!

The next morning we went on our adventure to Ala Moana Park!  We were all a little timid at first, approaching someone trying to sleep, or families gathered together, but after the first person, our hearts smiled and we continued on until all 50 bags were handed out to elderly men, single moms and families with young children.  My heart was very full as it began to rain and we walked back to our cars.  Up until then it hadn't felt like Christmas at all.  As soon as we handed out that first gift and saw the tears in their eyes, it felt like Christmas.

(My parents delivering Christmas joy at Ala Moana Park.)

It was a VERY humbling experience.

Aside from that, we had a good time being entertained by Jady Lady.  She's 10 months old now and has been nonstop smiles since she was born!  Our favorite thing to do with her is say "Yes, Ma'am" or "Yes, yes, yes" while nodding our heads up and down.  In return, she shakes her head "No."  It's very entertaining!

(Jady Lady giving me salutations by spitting.)

I also took the day after Christmas to go diving with Marisa and Gabe and to see old friends.  We woke up bright and early and dove a wreck dive, YO and a shallow reef called Nautilus.  Oh yeah, and Gabe decided to put me, the coldest girl in the world, in a shorty wetsuit!  Well, I learned my lesson because on the second dive I was so cold!  During my safety stop at the end of the dive, my hands were numb holding on to the line and Marisa was trying to rub my arms because I was shaking so bad.  That'll teach me to alway bring my own wetsuit...  But at the YO, we had a blast!  we didn't see any whales like I'd hoped for but I did see my first Brown Stingray!  That made the dive worth it :)

(Risa and I having fun at the YO)

(I thought this pix was pretty awesome of 2 eels "kissing.")

After diving, we went to Duke's for lunch to meet up with our friend Wayne.  He and Risa both work there.  It's always fun seeing old friends!  They are trying to get me to move back to the island, it's pretty funny.

(I was already tanner than Risa at this point, haha!)

Next we drove to my old work, Sea Life Park.  This was the very bittersweet part of my visit.  It's so good to see my old friends and visit, but it's also hard.  The last part of my employment there was very difficult for so many reasons.  It's hard to see them still dealing with it.  I gave out plenty of hugs and visited my old animals, whom I miss dearly.  I was very happy to see all of the younger turtles had been released or adopted out.  My sharks were all still alive and Ula was as fat as ever.  My stingrays, although their barbs had been cut, were still cruising around.

When I returned back to the villa I found out my brother in law, Seanie, had worked out with the Obamas on Kaneohe Bay Marine Base Semper Fitness.  He said Michelle Obama was a stud, all lifting weights and being buff, while Mr. President was on the elliptical machine.  Haha, I thought that was hilarious!

(Air Force One. We had to wait 20-30 minutes at the front gate of Hickam because they closed it while Obama drove off Hickam and to Kailua.)

Overall, it was a good visit and I'm glad I had the opportunity to not only get back in the water, but to help some of those in need.  It was a very different Christmas.  Very humbling indeed.

The Influence of Veronica Lake...

While I was in Salt Lake City this Labor Day weekend, my sister Ashley decided she wanted to learn more about the 1940's hairstyles.  My cousin April is a hairstylist and absolutely loves these styles as well and was more than happy to teach my baby sister.

After the styling that took a lot longer than planned, due to the subject's stubborn hair (your's truly), my cousin D'Arcy proved her skills as well by snapping some shots of the fun event.  I truly have a talented family and it was such a blast being together again laughing until our faces were sore!

The Unplanned Adventures of Sisters... (Part Three)

(Mount Shasta. And yes, that is crap on the windshield..)

And so we were on our way back to California. Destination, San Jose.

The trip back to California went by pretty quick thanks to awesome music on the iPods and beautiful scenery. We were sure to wave to my brother as we drove past his exit. there were tons of deer on at the shoulders of the freeways just chilling in the shade or chewing on some plants. I don't think I've ever seen so many of them at the side of the highway (alive that is)...

We arrived in San Jose a little after 11pm. I drove up to the Winchester Mystery House since this was our plan for the morning. Ashley has never been so I wanted to be sure she experienced the construction plans of Sarah Winchester. (More on that in a second.) We ended up staying in a motel that proved to be shady and very creepy. When we got our key, it was an actual key with the plastic keychain with the room number on it. It made both of us think of the John Cusack movie Identity... We opened the door to be pummeled by the smell of cigarette smoke. Ugh.. After we grabbed our stuff, including our bedding for we refused to sleep in their blankets and sheets, we were met by an army of bugs. Then Ashley came out of the bathroom and told me how it looked like someone had just taken a shower in there. In short, it was disgusting and creepy. We ended up barricading the front door with one of the big armchairs. then Ashley said "I've seen tis movie. Can we please put the other chair in front of the closet door?" I was more than happy to.

Needless to say, we made it through the night.

the Winchester Mystery House was so worth the $26! We did our usual thing of being the last people on the tour so we could take heaps of pictures. Let me give you a background on this mansion...

Sarah Winchester was the wife of the man who made Winchester rifles, etc. He died along with their child. After this, Sarah Winchester was told by a psychic that she needed to keep on building and adding on to the mansion to confuse the spirits that killed her husband and child, for they were the same spirits of those killed by the Winchester guns. The construction of the mansion lasted 30ish years, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, until she died.

(The stairway to nowhere)

(The door to nowhere)

In this house, there are stairs that lead to a ceiling, a door to nowhere on the 2nd floor, doors opening to walls, etc. We were very amused. She even had a seance room where she "met" with the spirits to tell her where to build next. This is also where she spied on her servants.

It was great fun and Ashley and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Oh, by the way, yes. Ghost Hunters did investigate there but could find no proof of a haunting. :)

(The supposedly haunted ballroom)

(Our tour guide, Ash -- and some Orbs!!!)

We continued on our way back home. As we rode, I read my "Haunting In California" book that I had bought from the gift shop. It just so happened the highway we were driving on had some paranormal activity! Pretty cool to read it as we drove on it. Of course, we are skeptics and nothing happened to us. We drove through Mount Shasta and The Grapevine and got caught in traffic in LA. We were finally home!! :D

(More pix from the great unplanned roadtrip Part Two-Seattle)

(The blog for these Seattle pix is posted below.)

(Me and Nya ready to Ghost Hunt in Seattle's Underground!)

(Sometimes you just can't help modeling when there's a wind. Ash and I thought so...)

(My bf at Pike's Market. Not the guy yelling, but the dude with the hat.)

(I totally wanted to put coins in this pig! I thought it was a big piggy bank!)

(We're on a troll trick!)

The Unplanned Adventures of Sisters... (Part Two)

And so we were off to Seattle! I have known my friend Nya for about 10 years. I worked with her at All Care and then she recruited me to Advanced Critical Care & Internal Medicine. then she moved to Denmark. she was my inspiration to just up and move to Hawaii. Why not?

On our way to Seattle, Ashley was sure to yell out Mt. Ranier again. We finally arrived to Nya's in the late afternoon. We were given the grand tour and met the man of the house, Jackson, a giant black lab mix with the best lazy demeanor ever. Nya decided it would be best if we started the evening with the most bizarre ice cream parlor I've ever experienced. Molly Moon's is an ice creamery that serves almost the equivalent ice cream to that of Harry Potters nasty jelly beans (but the ice cream doesn't have vomit as a flavor). Ashley and I both got the honey lavendar, which was like cold, creamed tea, and I added a scoop of the best chocolate ice cream I've ever had! Nya told me I needed to at least sample one of the more bizarre flavors so I went with Balsamic Strawberry. It wasn't too different than normal strawberry. Nya got black licorice ice cream. they also had Salted Caramel, Maple Walnut, etc.

(We didn't plan this trip to revolve around ice cream, but somehow, it happened!)

After that, we headed to a look out that Nya and Mandy had heard about. We drove up and up and finally came to a spot we could walk out to and eat our ice scream, admiring the Seattle scenery at night. It was beautiful!

When we got back, Ashley headed over to her friend Willy's, Mandy went to bed, and Nya and I sat up late watching youtube vidoes, laughing our heads off. It was so great to be together once again, just laughing and dorking around. I've missed that girl so much!

the next morning we headed downtown for our Underground Seattle Tour! We were thrilled to be doing this! They had this place on an episode of Ghost Hunters (which Ashley and I are obsessed with) and were ready to investigate! We arrived early so we decided to go get some Mediterranean food just across the street. That's where we had lunch Billy Bob Thornton. Willy confirmed this as he stared him down as we left.

(The restaurant we ate at and had lunch with Billy Bob Thornton.)

I don't know if you know of the history of Seattle, but being a part history major, I'd like to educate you. On June 6, 1889, a man named John E. Back inadvertently started a grease fire which spread 29 square city blocks. Fortunately, no one was hurt. There's a lot more of Seattle's history that I could go into, including plumbing problems causing sewer issues, etc, but I'll let you look that up yourself... Anyhoo, they decided to basically build the city on top of the old town. Hence, the underground tour. Many of the first floors of the buildings in Seattle are now basements.

The tour was quite entertaining and I was sure to take photo after photo. you know me and my documentation. :) We did see one dead thing... a rat that was in an alley between underground portions... But, no paranormal activity, although we did observe a few cool spots, but, you know, we're underground. It was a blast though!

(Underground Tour. Ashley was pointing out a cold spot and I heard a noise...)

After the tour, Nya took us down to the ferries. We were on a quest to find the best ice cream. (Total theme to this trip right?) We enjoyed the 35 minute ferry ride to Bainbridge. So much beauty to be had! the Seattle skyline was gorgeous! Mt. Ranier brought us to a discussion on Twilight (poor Nya just doesn't understand). We finally arrived to our destination and off we went, walking to the ice cream place called Mora. We all got 2 scoops, well, aside from Willy who decided on 3. I must say that Ashley's blueberry was the best I'd ever tasted! My strawberry cheesecake was pretty average, but my chocolate peanut butter was a dream! So delicious!! All in all, we decided that Molly Moon's was best between the two.

By the time we got back to the dock in Seattle, we were pretty tired. We were told by many that we had to experience Pike's Place Market, so we walked there next. Elevator it was! I figured we'd had enough exercise for the day even though we had to walk all the way back to the car. Why not give ourselves a break? It was pretty cool seeing all of the stuff and people there. We finally arrived to the fish tossing area where we stopped and took some pictures. Not too much tossing, but a lot of yelling! We then went into Nya's favorite little shop there that has food from all around Europe. Very cool store! I was hoping to find Tim Tams but I guess they are too Australian for them...

By the time we got back to Nya's we were all in zombie mode... until I busted out the episode of Ghost Hunters of the Underground Tour we had just done! It's always cool to see something on TV and then live, or vice versa! We watched several episodes as I tried to put a little fear into them with the creepiest ones. Then it was time to head out once again. Seriously, this is how you do Seattle in a day!

Nya and Mandy's friend was playing with a band at a place called The Tractor. We made a detour by stopping at the Freemont Troll! VERY cool! I guess a bunch of college students did this project to help prevent some negative things from happening in that area. The troll is also featured on the movie 10 Things I Hate About You. We got to The Tractor and really enjoyed the bands. By midnight, when all was said and done, we were exhausted to say the least. We got back to Nya's and crashed. Hard. What a fun time we'd had in Seattle!!

(The Fremont Troll. That's a REAL VW Bug it's got a hold of and a hubcap for its eye!)

The next morning, we woke up a little later than planned, go figure, and headed back to California. This would be the day we drove in 3 states! Off to San Jose or Santa Rosa, whichever worked out for the best!

(so sad to have to leave! One full day is not enough!)

(More pix from the great unplanned roadtrip)

(The Blog in which these pictures represent is below)

Auntie Ashley holding Anne just before she cried. Big brother O making sure Auntie Ashley makes no sudden moves.

Ashley and I under the Casino Monte Carlo arch at the prom scene in Twilight.

VJ, JK, Ash, O and I at one of the waterfalls we hiked to.

The special kid on the slide at the playground.

My brother's adorable family. Owen, Trudie, Jackie, VJ and Anne. Lake Oswego Oregon.

The Unplanned Adventures of Sisters... (Part One)

On June 3, my niece Anne Cosette was born to my sister in law Trudie and brother VJ. I had to go meet her. After all, I've met my other nieces and nephew soon after they were born and Cozy was no different. Plus, I'm unemployed and I have never taken a roadtrip up the west coast!

So my baby sister Ashley and I embarked on our journey. We left at 1:00 in the afternoon and planned on arriving for the last tour at the Winchester Mystery House. The Godfather (aka, our dad) presented the Tom Tom and showed us how to use it. "Francois" as he came to be known thanks to a previous trip, was quite helpful!

We were on our way. We had the typical roadtrip food of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, beef jerkey, granola bars, waters and diet coke. We were on our way!

We got to San Jose an hour after the last tour for the Winchester Mystery House. We decided to do it on the way home instead. (Plus we missed the exit entirely so we headed to San Francisco looking for a Del Taco.) Ashley has never driven in San Francisco so it was quite entertaining :) Somehow, we ended up on Lombard St. (one of the crookedest streets in the world!) as Del Taco mocked us. By now it was after 9pm and we weren't sure where to go from here. That's when we decided, hey, why don't we just camp? There's tons of campgrounds up here, let's find a Target! And that we did! So, we bought a two man tent and some emergency blankets. We already had our own bedding, food, flashlight, etc. As we started to continue north, we decided to stop by our cousin Lindy and Leonard's house in Santa Rosa. They were more than happy to see us on our surprise visit! We stayed about an hour and they insisted we stay the night, but we had our hearts set on camping after purchasing that tent! so we bid them adieu and were on our way! Francois gave us plenty of options of campgrounds and Ashley was set on Mt. Cucumber (which, was actually called Mt. Cumber, but she blames this mistake on the fact that she was driving).

(Ash, Lindy, Leonard and I in Santa Rosa. I can't tell you how many times we were offered wine. Such hospital family, I love them!)

After Lindy and Leonard's it was my turn to drive. Now as most of you know, I am a part-time insomniac and sleeping in the car is pretty much impossible for me. So, Ashley gave me one of her fat burners to help me out. The camp site was only 3 hours away. I could make it!

At 5:30am, after the sun had come up and I decided it would be best to just drive as far as we could, since I was wired, I pulled over into a rest stop. We pulled the sleeping pads that Lindy and Leonard offered us over the windows and slept. For about 4 hours. I couldn't sleep anymore so we headed to my brother's.

We finally arrived just before 1:00 in the afternoon. We were greeted by my niece Jackie (JK) and nephew Owen (O), as well as my brother making us some Boca burgers for lunch. Trudie came home from the grocery store and we were able to meet Cozy (or Annie Pie as O likes to call her). Nothing less than adorable! She is a tiny little thing and looks more like a cross between JK and O than anything. She's precious!

(Anne Cosette having "tubby time")

After we talked and rested a bit (well, Ashley did, I had no intention of sleeping till bedtime) we decided to take the kids to the pool, leaving Tru and Cozy behind to nap. The pool in Portland is at the high school and MAN, this is the COOLEST pool I've ever seen! It has a little frog slide in the wading pool, a diving board, a big waterslide like at the water parks, a whirlpool with another whirlpool inside of it that goes faster. Not a jacuzzi, but an actual whirlpool, like a lazy river! Ashley and I swam with JK and had a blast! O was with VJ and we met up later on. then we headed to the diving board where JK showed us how far she could jump off. It was a blast!

(JK, Ash and I underwater at the coolest pool I've ever seen)

Later in the evening, VJ took Ash and I to downtown Portland. We went to his favorite book store in the world, Powells. This place is HUGE. Now when I see a bookstore, it's like seeing something shiny -- I can't help myself. Luckily, I was too tired to look for more than one book, so I escaped with only one. Then we headed out for some gelato and then dinner at PF Changs. By the end of the night, 11:30pm when we left the restaurant, we crashed hard.

The next morning we were pleased as we were able to sleep in till 9am thanks to VJ and Trudie restraining their kids. :) Then we were off to church. Ashley and I chose to walk back to the house and take in the fresh air and the beauty that is Lake Oswego. When VJ returned, he took us on a little field trip to The View Point Inn, which coincidentally, is where they filmed the prom scene for Twilight! How adorable is our brother?? JK and O walked around with us checking the place out marveling at the view. Then we were off to the waterfalls! We did a small hike and enjoyed the waterfall and river. We made a couple other stops then headed back to the house.

It was such a blast playing with JK and O and meeting Cozy! She is such a good baby! I couldn't help but laugh when my little sister attempted to hold her. As soon as she was in her arms, she began to cry. That's when Ashley let me know of her fear of newborns, ha ha! VJ handed Cozy to Ashley one more time and I quickly shot a picture.

The next day, we were awoken at 7:30 (well, I was as Owen came in to check on me). This was totally permitted because I wanted to spend as much time with them before we headed to Seattle that evening. This time, we went to the park, leaving VJ at home to work. The kids road bikes and we walked over to the nearest park. It was hilarious because Owen decided to keep his bike helmet on while he was playing on the playground. He was the special kid on the slide, ha ha! Good thing he had it on though because he fell a couple of times. Hey, he's only 2 1/2... We had a picnic there and watched the kids play then headed back home.

After our goodbye's (and a bit more playing) we were off to Seattle!