Club volleyball season for the Kid has officially begun!  Kid had her 1st tournament of the season on Saturday…it was a L-O-N-G day!  After 3 pool play matches of 3 games each the girls ended up in the #4 spot in bracket play.  The girls continued to play together as a team and ended up winning the championship match after playing another 2 matches!

Kid decided to change her position this year and instead of playing as both an outside hitter AND a DS  she has opted to fight for a Libero/DS spot on the team.  Actually, it’s what she had wanted during the high school season as well but ended up playing all around instead.  It was a little weird to NOT see her hit like she has been for the past six years but she enjoys it and that’s all that really matters!

It’s going to be an interesting season!  She had a GREAT practice tonight and I’m excited to see her grow as a volleyball player!

This year I’m striving to be…

be present – present in the moment, the every day, for my children, for Ryan.

be inspired – inspiration is all around us.  I would like to use that inspiration to find my creative self

be strong / courageous – 2011 was a year filled with struggle.  There are so many changes I want to make in my life, but I will need strength to make those changes and courage to take the step towards change.

be loving – again this is inspired by my relationship with my children + Ryan as well as friends + family

be kind – kind to one another, kind to strangers, kind to myself

be passionate – passion is such a strong, vivacious word.  In 2012 I hope to be passionate in creating in hopes that passion will through in all aspects of my life.

and finally

just be…sometimes we need to stop and take a step back from all that surrounds our lives and just be.  for ourselves . for a moment . it’s something i need to work on, just being.

I’ve decided to switch things up a bit for my reverb11.  There are several people who are participating and creating their own prompts so I thought it would be fun to peruse the prompts + pick one that “speaks to me”!  Today I’m using Hope from Besottment’s prompt.

today’s prompt…

2. What was the most memorable gathering you attended (or held) in 2011?
Did you attend a fun event? Throw a great party? Had dinner out with a great group of friends? Accomplished the perfect family outing? Which was the most memorable (good or bad), and why?

most memorable gathering of 20-11 would have to be the Searle 4th of July celebration!

My sister + her ohana (family) live a few minutes away from a fabulous sports complex.  Before lunch/brunch/dinner we all headed to the complex and by we all I mean A LOT…including parents + teens + tots + babies.

What a BLAST we had!  You have to understand, when my brother in love + his brother get together you can expect lots of laughter + jokes + sometimes a little unfair play!

After our softball game, we headed over to my sisters for lots of local aka Hawaiian food…kalua pork + laulau YUM!

food + fun + fireworks + family = epic memories

how about you? what was the most memorable gathering you attended in 2011?

I can’t believe it’s December already!  There’s SO MUCH going on around the blogosphere this month… Ali Edwards December Daily project + Shimelle’s Journal Your Christmas + reverb 2011!

I haven’t signed up for Shimelle’s JYC…YET but I am playing along with Ali’s December Daily + A beautiful ripple effect’s reverb 2011

What is reverb11 you ask?  Well, guided by daily prompts, reverb11 is a way to reflect on the passing year + help you start off 2012 with good intentions.

today’s prompt…

1. One Word 
Encapsulate the year 2011 in one word. Explain why you’re choosing that word. Now, imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2012 for you?
(Author: Gwen Bell)

earlier in the year I chose “embrace” as my one little word + it definitely is/was a year of embracing for me.

embracing imperfection | whether it be parenting + crafting + or just plain self, embracing MY imperfections was challenging.

embracing life | with all it’s challenges + happiness + memories + moments

embracing creativity | i’ve completed a number of projects this year + learned SO MUCH from quite a few TALENTED + CREATIVE people. some of what was blogged + some i kept all to myself

embracing the journey | this was my 2011 mantra.  something i reminded myself of on a daily + weekly + monthly basis. truth be told, i think this phrase is/will be my life mantra since it’s something i feel so strongly about.  my journey includes trials + tribulations, happiness + sadness, moments i wish to treasure + some i wish could be changed.

reflecting on the past year, thinking about my one little word for 2012…that’s going to take some time.  but a few that have come to mind.

. inspire
. . passion
. . . love
. . . . finish

will you be joining me on my reverb11 adventure? i’d LOVE to read your thoughts by leaving a link in the comments!

I am SO VERY late getting the final pages from my 30 days of lists project up on my blog.  It’s been a crazy busy fall with high school volleyball finishing up, decisions on whether Kid will play club volleyball + a SICK household…yuck!

Here are the last 4 lists for my project

WHAT I LOVED:

• short + simple enough to complete each days prompt in less than 5 minutes
• thought provoking while not being too intense
• private website + forum full of inspiration + interaction with other list makers + tutorials + giveaways
• EASY – I think this was one of a handful of online classes I’ve taken that I’ve actually completed!

I can’t believe today is HALLOWEEN!  My how quickly the year has gone by…not just the year, but the past 30 days as well!  Today I’m sharing lists 20 – 26 of my 30 days of lists project.  Last week I shared TWO posts which held lists 6-12 and lists 13-19.

Only FOUR more lists to go!  Have you JOINED THE PARTY?  It’s NOT too late!  I’d LOVE for you to leave a comment if you have so I can check out your lists!

As promised yesterday when I shared my 30 days of lists: 6-12 , today I’m sharing lists 13 – 19.  I’ve been really enjoying working on my lists each day.  The prompts are short so I can get them done in less than 5 minutes…MOST of the time.  On to the images…

Have you joined the party?  I’d LOVE for you to leave a comment if you have so I can check out your lists!

I’ve been completing my 30 days of list project on time, but have been really terrible at blogging them.  I had originally planned on posting once a week but to no surprise, I’ve been slacking.  Instead of bombarding you with TWO WEEKS worth of lists, I’m posting lists 6-12 today + 13-19 tomorrow.

You can’t really tell from the photo since it’s been instagrammed…however, my favorite color combo is gray + black + pink + white.

There you have it…seven more lists!  Be sure to come back tomorrow to see lists 13-19!

this week i’m participating in Week in My Life with Melissa from Adventuroo.com.  basically, i’ll be documenting the week using photos + video from my iPhone + dSLR, you can read more about this adventure here: Week in My Life

monday morning started off with hugs + kisses + snuggles from the little guy in bed.  normally when the little guy is in a huggy+kissy mood in the morning, it’s a sign of a good day (read: happy + non-bratty + non-clingy).

as usual, upon waking my little man reaches over + grabs my iphone, “i play” and proceeds to get his angry birds game on.  it didn’t take long for him to get bored + say, “cars? mom…MOM! cars!?!” which then means it’s time to get outta bed mama and get some cars on the tv.

and here is where the monday morning adventure begins:

ONE 

setting up the wooden train tracks for to keep my little guy occupied while i make breakfast.  as you probably noticed in the picture, it didn’t occupy him for very long. the train + cars is a morning ritual for us, that is AFTER the iPhone and/or ipod touch routine in bed.

TWO

“toast” + oj was the breakfast of choice this morning for him while switching between cars + toy story 3 on the tv.  in the mean time i’m downing a whole lot of coffee thinking it’s gonna be long monday (and long it sure was)

THREE

my favorite photo/moment of our morning (except for the messy desks)…my little guy climbed up on the chair + pulled out the drawer + turned to me and said, “i working…mom. Mom. MOM! i working” and proceeded to bang away on the keyboard.  i originally planned to share a short video of the conversation we had but can’t for the life of me understand why it won’t embed.

FOUR

since we went to bed so early sunday night + woke up at 7am, which is SUPER early for the little guy who normally wakes between 8:45 – 9am, my l.g. ended up taking an early nap.  if you look closely on his forehead, slightly covered by his hair you may notice the bandaid.  yesterday the little guy went to war with some cement stairs at his daddy’s soccer game…the stairs won + the little guy gained a bump + a gash.  i’m thinking he kinda likes wearing the bandaid…he sure was taking full advantage of getting his sister to kiss him up this morning!

special notes about today:

•  it turned out to be a not-so-good day for the little guy…fussy + whiny + clingy which shouldn’t surprise me since it’s monday which means his Tita (tee-tah) goes back to school + his daddy goes back to work which leaves just the two of us at home.
• my son is a serious idevice user…from his iPod touch, one of the 3 iphones in the house, my iMac, macbook + my sisters iPad: it AMAZES me how “connected” this 2 year old is with technology.  YES, we limit his idevice usage but really…he could probably teach my sister a thing or two about her ipad LOL
• about an hour ago i had a great chat with the Kid aka my 15 year old daughter…it’s been awhile since she + i have talked/connected/conversed the way we did tonight.  thinking we’ll have to do it more often!  she’s growing up WAY TOO FAST
• instead of documenting each and every moment of every day this week i’ve decided to highlight bits + pieces each day.  the little things + the things i want to be sure to remember.

In a nutshell…THIS was my monday morning!  how was YOURS?

last month i posted about a fun project i had wanted to do…of course, me being me i signed up but never got around to starting.  well, here i am posting the cover + first 5 lists for the world to see!

first up, the cover for my 30 days of lists album/book.  most of the papers i used are from Pink Paislee + House of 3′s Daily Junque line…LOVE LOVE LOVE this line!  so much so, that i’m HOARDING the paper!

and here are lists 1 – 5

30 days of lists is a quick + fun project to document 30 lists in 30 days put together by three FABULOUS women!  you can find out more details on the website, 30daysoflists.com as a side note, it only costs $6 to signup which includes access to a private forum + printables + tutorials + the 30 lists flickr group!

if you’re planning on joining in on the fun late like i am, leave a comment below so i can follow along in your list making!

you can view all my 30 DAYS OF LISTS HERE.