My Voice, My Heart, My Life

This past summer my husband and I have made a few significant changes to our life. We've let go of a few things that have been part of lives for a very long time. For some of it, it's been decades and for others 3 to 5 years of invested time. They have been a big chunk of our daily life and growth. A lot of talk and prayer went into this decision and we feel at peace with the choices we are making. Yet having to say good-bye has been difficult. Each piece that we have let go has been filled with people that we love and have learned so much from.  It's been a bittersweet transition. But we feel that it's what the Lord is leading us to do. There are always different stages in our lives. There are good, bad, challenging, uplifting, molding, refining and adventurous periods where God's hand can be seen. It's unfortunate that most of the times we only see or reflect on it after the fact. When we are at the end of the line and look back and see how each precise m...

Today marks Myrna Loy's 107th birthday anniversary. We lost this beautiful and talented actress in 1993. I first saw Myrna in the movie "The Thin Man." It was love at first sight. Through this movie and the multiple sequels Nora Charles became synonymous with Myrna Loy. The Thin Man series, a 6 movie series, was Myrna's breakout performance. These films showed a different range, comedic deliverance. Myrna's early films, which were silent films, she portray primarily femme fatales and usually of Asian or Eurasian background. It took many years for her to overcome this stereotype. In 1932 she was cast as villainous characters and then stared in some musicals. She soon became associated with musicals and when they began to lose favor with the public, her career went into a slump. In 1934 she was cast in Manhattan Melodrama opposite Clark Gable & William Powell and The Thin Man with William Powell rebooting her career and made her a household ...

One of my dream travel destination is London. I have always been intrigued and it's on my top 5 places to visit. The desire to see London is now even more compounded because of the summer Olympics. I love the Olympics! Summer or winter it doesn't matter. It's a moment in time where the entire world comes together to celebrate the tenacity, strength, creativity and individuality of the human race. A time of camaraderie and fellowship. How I long to be in this beautiful city and live the experience of the games. There is so much joy and excitement surrounding the Olympics. Countries have sent off their strongest and their most talented athletes to compete and bring back that coveted Olympic medal. Years of intense training, sweat and tears have brought them to this moment. This is what they have worked for. This opportunity to represent their nation in honor, pride and respect. Each athlete has their own story. Their own reason and dreams for being here. Each with an asp...

Sally Ride was the first American women and youngest at the time at 32 in space. Her historic flight into space captured a country's imagination and made her a household name. She broke the glass ceiling for many women so they can thrive and continue to break barriers, becoming an inspiration and hero for countless adventurous young girls. Sally Ride passed away yesterday, July 23, 2012,  after a courageous 17 month battle with pancreatic cancer. Those who knew her say she lived her life to the fullest, with boundless energy, curiosity, intelligence, passion, joy and love. Her integrity was absolute; her spirit was immeasurable; her approach to life was fearless. Sally Ride was born on May 26, 1951, in Encino, California. Even as a young girl science fascinated her. She grew up playing with chemistry sets and a telescope. She also enjoyed sports. She competed in national junior tennis tournaments and won a tennis scholarship to Westlake School for girls in Los Angles. Her paren...

So last night my brothers, cousin and I went to the Dark Knight Marathon. It started off with Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and finished with a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises. This was the first marathon any of us had done. We had been to a midnight showing maybe once or twice before but settling in for a 9 hour marathon just never come up. It started at 6pm but the line started at 4pm. So we get there at 3 just to make sure we're on time. We were first in line. For 2 hours we talked and played some Civilization Revolution on our iPads seeing who would get the highest score. Seeing as this is one of the few video games I play and love I won, no competition. It's a great game by the way worth the time to play. Our bands and collector lanyards for the event! While in line there where regular fans and one hard core fan decked out in a batman cape, joker shirt and joker shoes. I was kinda surprise he didn't have makeup to complete the ensemble. Half an hou...

We decided that on our last full day we should relax and go beach hopping. When we found one that suited us we would stay and enjoy. We drove to the south part of Maui and started with Big Beach. Big Beach was beautiful. Clear waters, white sands and a view that is breath taking. The water was a crisp turquoise. The foam a bright white. As the waves crashes on the shore you could hear the power of the water. It was the beach that you see in the calendars. We were so excited to step into these gorgeous waters! The second we step in we felt the strength of the current. It pulled you in with fore and pushed you out with twice the force. We wipeout several times. The waves were too strong. We decided after 5 minutes that this wasn't the right beach for us. It was beautiful but the waters are for more advanced swimmers. We found out later from my cousin's friend (the one who took us up the volcano) that Big beach is a "chill" beach. It's too hard to swim in but if y...

Waihe'e Ridge Trail is a 4.5 mile round trip hike. The hike takes you about 1,560 ft high. It promises breath-taking views and invigorating hiking. Not wanted to get caught at the peak of the heat we decided to get an early start. We arrived around 7:30am. We started out with great enthusiasm that turned into survival mode. The first mile was steep and a bit muddy, nothing unusual. Took pictures of the amazing view. It was enjoyable. The trouble began at mile 2. The trail became narrow, steeper and a whole lot muddier. To complicate problems my shoes didn't have the traction necessary to deal with mud, none of our shoes did. The rocks where slippery, our feet would slide down on muddy terrain and we had to grab hold to the mountain side. There was a point when we where turning a corner and I slipped. I couldn't get traction I was just keep slipping and slipping. I had gotten ahold of a rock and tried to pull myself up but my shoes just weren't griping. My cousin ...