Well, it’s time for another post!  I was disappointed about the mysterious disappearance of my last post (about Kula Fields) that I have not updated my blog  since then.  But it’s time to move forward.  I will re-do the Kula Fields post sometime next week but for now I thought I ought to share some of the photos I took during my morning run in Keawekapu Beach on Wailea.

These photos are also my Weekly Winner pics for this week.  For more Weekly Winner participants, visit Lotus’ blog here.

I really need another “retreat” such as what I had when I went to Hana last January. Thank you again Hotel Hana Maui so such a restful relaxing stay. That personal time there rejuvenated me more than I can ever tell.

And so now I am ready for another one. This promises to be an exciting week full of laughter and fun. It will also be a time of learning from each other, encouraging each other in our walk with Christ. I will talk more about Keanae when I come back.

Since this is my Aloha Friday post, my question for you is “where do you go for a retreat?”   If you don’t go on a “retreat”, let’s say “where do you go for vacation?”

Looking forward to hearing from you. Aloha!

* To visit other participants of Aloha Friday Meme, go to Kailani’s blog An Island Life.

These awesome Lahaina fireworks  photos were taken by a cool professional photographer visiting Maui.  This is one example of how social networkng works: The other day @KulorDS tweeted me saying that he is here on Maui and would give a free photo shoot to Maui residents (just tip).

I looked up his Twitter profile, I researched on him via internet and found out he is who is he is (cool guy) so I hooked him up with a another Twitter friend who just opened up a business and can use some high  quality photos for their blog.

And so I started following @KulorDS because I like reading the visitors adventure on Maui. Lo and behold, he posted  some incredible shots of the Lahaina Fireworks. 2010.  I asked permission to use it on this blog and he generously gave his permission – so it’s here for us to enjoy! Mahalo @KulorDS

* You can also see these on KulorDS’s Flickr Page

An American Flag waving on our lanai

Sun is shining bright.  It was a beautiful day.

Fireworks and firecrackers add to the fun

Magnolia blooming in our garden

These are my Weekly Winner photos – please feel free to leave a comment.

For more winners, visit lotus at www.sarcasticmom.com

One thing the separates A Maui Blog from many travel and tourism blogs is it’s local flavor and less formal attitude. It has a local voice, a local “talking story mama voice” – spontaneous than formal, not too polished, with occasional grammatical and spelling errors (ahem, maybe more than occasional).   Yet this blog has enough good qualities like politeness, friendliness, promoting others others than myself, humor and lots of aloha. Sure I talk a lot about Maui – it’s beauty and splendor  (who does not want to read about Maui? No one. Everyone loves Maui - ok, some may argue that, but that’s your opinion) but more than just talking about Maui, I love talking about “da people” of Maui. It’ a huge part of what makes Maui special….

At this point you might be wondering “why is Liza doing this “drama post”, and where is she heading?”. The truth? I do not know. I am just seriously rambling here, breaking my one week silence. It’s been a very busy week of transition for me at work that this blog was left unattended for a week.

What transition am I talking about? I took a 3 month furlough from my regular job to help a friend of mine “jumpstart” his social media involvement (I was hired by him for 3 months)  What happened is this last week is that I spent more time working with his social media sites (like this FB page) instead of mine.  But it is temporary.  I am just happy I can help and in turn I am able to spend more time at home with my kids during their summer vacation.

So … thank you for listening to my ramblings.  I am working on several posts for this blog.  Who knows when those will be uploaded but I am praying I can upload one tonight.  In the meantime, enjoy your weekend.  Happy 4th of July!

Liza

In this pic is Anthony @Safeway Piilani Village

It’s Aloha Friday, and what way for me to do a giveaway to my Maui Hawaii readers than to do it at this post.  My question for you is “do you clip grocery coupons?” and a follow up question is “do you use grocery discount coupons – why or why not?”

Here is the reason why I am asking:  Safeway in Hawaii is launching a new promotion called Just For U.  Their marketing agent contacted me a couple weeks ago to ask if I would be willing to try it out. Since I usually shop at Safeway in Piilani Shopping Center in Kihei anyway, I agreed to participate. They sent me a $50 gift certificate to help with my expenses while trying it out, and they sent another $50 gift certificate for me to give away on my blog. Hey, with this present economy, a $50 GC for grocery shopping is very much appreciated.

After reading more about “Just For You“, registering, and actually using it, I concluded  that the “Just For You” promo is pretty cool! It really would help me save if I use it wisely. I was not good at using grocery coupons before, but since this has moved to a “2.o digital kind coupon” (that’s my term) I think it’ll work for me.

So “what is Just For You?” you may ask.  Well, Just For U is Safeway’s new customized savings program. Just For U sorts, organizes and gives you better prices based on your Safeway Club Card history. It saves you additional money on products selected just for you, allowing you to save on the items you want without having to sort through ads and clip coupons. The sign up is pretty simple and the benefits are great.  There is also a free offer of a dozen eggs when you sign up at a limited  time offer, so I recommend for you to do it now.

Back to the $50 gift certificate for A Maui Blog readers, all you have to do is answer my “Aloha Friday” question in the comment section and you’d be in for a draw.  If you are on Twitter and you tweet about this particular post aside from leaving a comment, you get 2 chances of winning. Simple enough?  Great!  This giveaway ends on Sunday 6/27 at noon time in Hawaii. I will announce the winner right after and will mail to you the GC the next day.

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*Aloha Friday is a blog carnival I participate regularly. Go to An Island Life Blog to find out more about it.  While there you may visit other bloggers who are participating and you may be inclined to join too. By the way, I just found out that Kailani reviewed Just For You on her blog too.  Read her detailed explanation at An island Life to find out more about Just For You. She is also giving away a $50 Gift Certificates  so join there to double your chances.

Yesterday our family had a photo shoot at Kamaole Beach III with one of Maui’s best photographer Douglas J. Hoffmman.  It was a fun day and prefect timing to have our family picture taken since it’s the next day (which is today) is Father’s Day.   I will share more about the photo shoot and about taking family portraits on Maui.  For now, I just want to wish my hubby, the father of our two children, HAPPY FATHER’S DAY.   The same goes to all the Dads out there – Happy Fathers Day to you all.