Honi Honi - To Kiss; A Kiss

"The Honi is a Polynesian greeting in which two people

greet each other by pressing noses and inhaling at the same

time.  This is very honorific as this represents the exchange

of ha-the breath of life, and mana-spiritual power between

two people."

Chris and I Honi Honied four times in our ceremony on the

hot sands of Waialae Beach on the afternoon of November 15, 2014.

The ceremony was officiated by Reverend Colin More. 
Our friends Jeff and Reggie, and Chris
and Laura, who also kindly let us stay in one of their
apartments with a fantastic view of the ocean from the lanai.

Pull up a beachchair and enjoy the soundtrack
compliments of Iz Kamakawiwo Ole.


Chris did a fantastic job of putting this slideshow together,

however, by the time it got to my blog it had been copied

and transferred a few times so it looks a bit rough.  Sorry.

So I have added some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Blowing the conch shell to announce the wedding ceremony.

Hawaiian Prayer Chant.

Sand Ceremony symbolizing the combining of
two lives forever intertwined.

Another Prayer...

Exchanging Rings..
"I give you this ring in celebration of our love.
I accept you as my partner and give you all the treasures 
of my mind, my heart and my soul."

Honi, Honi...the first of many!

Exchanging Leis...

More Honi Honi...

The Married Couple...
Do we look any different?

The Wedding Party.

Flower petals instead of rice....
That's much more fun!

All the pretty ladies...

All the handsome guys...

The Rings.

Our Ukulele accompaniment.

Nothing better than LOVE!

I would also like to say the blog is back!
I took some time off for bad behavior....no that's not right.
I took some time off to play in the sun and ....oh, Get Married!
And I thought about whether I wanted to keep
going with the blog and what it is I want to do with it.

I realized that what I really like is turning people on to things
that inspire me and that I think will inspire other people too. 
It's that simple.  I hope you won't hold the time lapse against me
and that you will continue to join me for some fun in the months to come.

Aloha my little beach bunnies...

Walk to Defeat ALS (Lou Gehrig's)

First of all, my apologies for being away so long.

I've found that when I'm busy with things to report

I have less time to report them.  And when I have 

extra time to blog I have nothing to report.

I promise to put on my blogging hat and get back

in the swing of things. 

This entry is for a particular purpose.  As most of my

readers know, my mother passed away from ALS 

(better known as Lou Gehrig's until the recent Ice 

Bucket Challenge put it on people's radar). 

I would like to ask you 

to join me in a

Walk to Defeat ALS

In Honor of my mother

Sandra Soleim

***************

Sunday, September 14^th, 2014

Location:  Alton Baker Park

Check-in:  11:00 AM

Walk Starts:  12:00 PM

Distance:  3 Miles

****************

If you can’t join for the walk, feel free to give a donation to Shade for the event.

More information about this event is available at:
Walk to Defeat ALS

If you would like more information about ALS go to:
What is ALS?

I will be following this up with the official meeting point
at Alton Baker Park as soon as I get the information.

Thank you for supporting the fight for a cure for ALS! 

 

 

Painting the Town

First of all I want to give a shout-out to

Art du Jour for the inspiration for these paintings.

The photo on the right is the reference picture.

I had two visitors, two weekends in a row

to paint their houses.  Here's Katie...

all about the color.

Her style reminds me of the paintings 

I saw in Santa Fe.  Luminous heat

radiating from the canvas.

Almost there...

Now that is the definition of

Hot Pink!

Melysa went another direction

with a sunny butter yellow.

We all pondered the bottom portion of the 

original painting.  Is it a street, a sidewalk,

a stream?  Time for interpretation...

Adding some shrubbery makes it homey.

 

I'd want to visit this cheerful house

if it was on my block.

 

 

 The pink color is what attracted me to
the painting, so I decided to copy it.
I didn't quite get it finished with the other ladies.

Here is our little neighborhood.

After a break from the 90 degree heat
I went outside in the cool of the evening
and put the finishing touches on.

Adding some shading made the pink pop!

Sandi and Jean came over the next weekend
for their take on the same picture.

Interestingly, they both went an intirely
different direction with their paint choices.

Jean decided on earth tones with a punch
of red and orange on the rooftop.

She also used a square canvas instead of
the 11 x 14 the rest of us used.
I like the battered look of the roof,
like it has baked from the heat.

Another mystery with the original painting
is, what is in the doorway?  It looks like 
Jean decided on flowers in a vase.

Sandi went for a white house.
She is queen of the pastel palate.

She did a great job of getting dimension
with the trees and bushes casting shadows
on the sidewalk.

There is a welcoming light for those
who come to visit.

Maybe the dab of orange is a reflection of the sun
dancing on the roof as the evening descends.

Here is Sandi and Jean's smaller neighborhood.

Sandi and Shade in the "hood".

As the famous quote says,
"There's no place like home."