Initials, Inc. end-of-season SALE

The NEW 2011 Spring/Summer Initials, Inc. Catalog begins MARCH 1 and the following products will not be returning. I have discounted them 20%, and this is the last time you will be able to order them! Remember- price includes personalization! Many of these are low quantity, so send me your order right away and I'll put it in! I can ship to ANYWHERE (and of course taxes and shipping and handling costs will apply)! Call or email me with questions (EmilyLGeyer@gmail.com and 423-305-5794).

**LOW QUANTITY- Backpack, Jr. $29.99 $23.99

Lunch Sak- $24.99 $19.99

**LOW QUANTITY- black

Backpack- $44.99 $35.99

Canteen- $22.99 $18.39

**LOW QUANTITY- preppy plaid

Folded cards- (pack of 16 cards and envelopes)- $17.99 $14.39

**LOW QUANTITY- black/black and black/red

Duffle- $42.99 $34.39

Brown- **LOW QUANTITY
Go Go Bag- $64.99 $51.99

**LOW QUANTITY

Messenger bag- $44.99 $35.99

Shadylady case- $23.99 $19.19

Terry Toiletry Bag- white- $22.99 $18.39

My go-to meals

I'm out of town right now (in New Orleans at CASE), so it's only appropriate that I post about the food David is surely eating right now :). Granted, he's the cook in the house so it's not like he starves when I'm not there. Quite the contrary. Regardless, these are a few of our favorite meals that we eat all-too frequently. The last two freeze well (which is why I know David's eating lasagna the whole time I'm gone) and can easily be halved for an 8x8 pan. Enjoy!

Impossibly easy cheeseburger pie
1 lb. Ground beef - brown
1 large onion - chopped (1 cup) (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup shredded cheddar
1/2 cup original Bisquick mix
1 cup milk
2 large eggs

1. 400*, spray 9 inch glass pie pan with cooking spray
2. Cook beef and onion, stir in salt, spread in pie plate, sprinkle with cheese
3. Stir remaining ingredients, pour into pie plate
4. Bake about 25 minutes or until knife inserted comes out clean

Broccoli Chicken Casserole
*2 cans cream of mushroom
  2 packages broccoli florets - steam
*1 cup mayo
*4 eggs
  6 chicken breasts (4 large) - thaw - boil
*1 dash worcester sauce
*2-4 cups shredded cheese

1. *Mix in 11x14 dish
2. Shred cooked chicken
3. Mix in chicken and broccoli
4. Bake at 350* for 30-40 minutes

Lasagna
2 lbs. ground beef - brown - drain
1 (14oz.) can diced tomatoes w/ garlic, basil and oregano
2 (6oz.) cans tomato paste w/ garlic, basil and oregano
1 Tbsp. parsley flakes
2 eggs
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
16 oz. mozzarella cheese
2 tsp. minced garlic
1 (16oz.) ricotta cheese
8 oz. lasagna noodles
1/2 tsp. pepper
salt to taste

Preheat oven to 350*. Boil lasagna noodles until soft.
Meat sauce: Mix ground beef, garlic, tomatoes, tomato paste, parsley in large bowl. Salt to taste.
Cheese sauce: Mix eggs, ricotta cheese, pepper and Parmesan cheese until well blended.

In 11x14 baking dish, layer pasta, cheese sauce, meat sauce, mozzarella cheese. Repeat. Last layer: pasta, meat sauce, mozzarella cheese. Bake 30 minutes.

Hawaii- adventures

We broke our time in Hawaii up by having full days and lazy days. For example, we arrived (late) Tuesday night, Wednesday we just relaxed (+ Haleakala, which isn't really a relaxing endeavor...), Thursday was our adventures day, Friday was low-key, Saturday was Hana, Sunday was low-key and Monday we traveled home!

Adventure #1: Getting to our hotel 

Our flight arrived in Maui around 10pm, we picked up our luggage and rental car, pulled out the GPS (that we brought from home) and hit the road. We anticipated that the drive would take 45-60 minutes (according to the hotel directions), but we didn't know that there are two ways you can go to get there. Unfortunately, our GPS took us the bad way, and unfortunately, we didn't bother looking at a real map. Here is a visual:

We should have left the airport and driven south on the interstate. Instead, our GPS looked at the shortest geographical distance, and took us to the north "over the top" (as they say) on a road that doesn't even appear on most maps (Kahekili Highway- I guess they use "highway" pretty loosely). Notice that road goes from a thin, white, squiggly line to totally disappearing. Yeah, that's intentional. Most rental car companies discourage you (some forbid you) from driving this road. NO ONE would encourage you to do it at night. Ever. Here is a great website that shows pictures of how treacherous this road is during the day (one lane bridges, hardly any guardrails, giant cliffs [we heard there is a 3,000ft cliff at one point], unpaved road, etc... you get the picture). So, needless to say, we had a stressful jaunt our first night in Hawaii. Oh, did I mention that we had been en route for about 22 hours at this point? David (our fearless driver) had hardly slept at all, and I am really thankful that he is such a safe, conscientious driver. I was a bundle of nerves the whole time... Whew. Glad that's over.

Adventure #2: Haleakala Crater

After my parents told me about visiting this place (my dad's photo won a photo contest!), I knew we had to make it a top priority. I really had to drag David up there on Wednesday (he was more intent on spending the day resting than spending another second in the car), but he definitely thought it was worthwhile in the end. We took a bazillion pictures, but none of them do this place/view justice. At 10,023 feet you are totally above the clouds. We watched the sunset and it was breathtaking. The ride back down made me sick (first motion sickness in my life!)... crazy drive #2.

Adventure #3: Helicopter tour

Monday afternoon I was laying out by the pool and reading (I read 4 books!) when David (who was inside sleeping), came out and told me he had just booked a helicopter tour for the following day! I was SO excited. I had mentioned early on that this is something I have always wanted to do, and he made it happen :). He's wonderful.

I can't even put this experience into words. It's impossible. First of all, I cried when we took off. It was the craziest sensation! I think I was emotional too because my dad flew helicopters in the Marine Corps and I have always associated the two together. It was really special to finally be able to experience something that was such a big part of his life. Second of all, the view was unbelievable. We flew all around Maui and to Moloka'i and Lana'i. We saw whales in the ocean below us. We saw 1,300 ft. waterfalls. We saw remote villages that don't have electricity. It totally blew our minds! We couldn't stop smiling and saying how awesome it was.

Adventure #4: Whale watching tour

After our helicopter tour, we spent lunchtime in Lahaina eating and browsing through the shops. That same afternoon was the time we had scheduled our whale watching tour (2 for $29.95!). At first it was totally lame. We kept taking picture of tiny grey dots a mile away because those were the only whales we saw. Oh, and the "tour guide" lady was crazy annoying. Then, the captain got a call from another boat, and he took off to a different part of the ocean. We arrived to find 5 male whales (humpback) that apparently were fighting. It. was. so. cool.

We couldn't tell that they were fighting, but man were they active and SO close to our boat! These animals are MASSIVE. Like, 40-45 feet long and 1 ton per foot! 80-90,000 pounds! Totally incredible. Our boat was full of people, so we were all clamoring over one another to try and see and take the best pictures. Obviously, we didn't succeed at that. If you want to see some amazing humpback whale pictures, google it. If you want to see some amazing humpback WHALES, go to Maui,

Hawaii- Hana

Sometimes people save the best for last, but I'm going to do the opposite.

Our trip to Hawaii was nothing short of amazing. It was way better than we even expected, and we canNOT wait to go back! We fell in LOVE with Maui, and we can't imagine wanting to go anywhere else ever again for a tropical vacation. All other beaches will forever be a disappointment!

We did all kinds of fun things while we were there, but our favorite day hands down was Saturday. We left early and hit the road for Hana. My aunt (Doris) and uncle (Denny) have lived in Hana for a number of years now, and I never imagined that I would actually be able to visit them. 

Let me back up... this family is awesome. Uncle Denny is my mom's big brother, in the truest sense of the word. Their dad died when my mom (the youngest of the six Buckley kids) was six, so she looks up to Denny a whole lot. D&D have done a lot of sailing over the years, and my mom even sailed with them a bit (we heard stories, mom :))! In 1993, Denny, Doris, Sarah (17), Jed (15) and Eliza (12) sailed away from California to begin a new adventure in the Pacific. For the next six years, the Buckleys lived on-and-off the boat while they explored the Polynesian islands and settled in New Zealand. Holy cow, right?! The best part (for us)? My aunt journaled a lot of their travels, and then typed and bound the book for the rest of our family to enjoy. As soon as we got back in town this week, my mom let me borrow the book and I have devoured it. Their story is one of adventure and drama, and it is all true.

Hana Highway is pretty renown. There are 59 bridges, 46 of which are one-lane and there are about 620 curves in the road. It is also insanely gorgeous. Often, one side of the road overlooks the ocean and the other side looks at beautiful waterfalls or lush a rain forest. It was pretty rainy or overcast for the majority of our drive, but that didn't diminish the view one bit!

When we pulled into "town", we couldn't get in touch with Denny & Doris so we did some exploring. We quickly found Hana Bay, and had a blast on the beach. By this time, the rain had subsided and we got the best gift: the most amazing rainbow I have ever seen! Every time I see a rainbow it makes me think of the song I walked down the aisle to ("make us a rainbow, Lord please make us one"). These pictures really do not do it justice.

After walking around for a bit, we decided to just try to find Aunt Doris. She mentioned that she was going to a health fair, so we drove around until we saw a sign advertising it! We asked someone to point us in the right direction, we found the old school and we found Doris! It was so fun.

on our walk through Hana

We spent most of our day just sitting and talking with Denny and Doris. It was so wonderful. Since I have lived so far away from this family (and most of my extended family), these trips have been like getting to know people for the very first time. It is so special to do that one-on-one and in their homes.

Uncle Denny got a coconut straight from a tree in their yard for us to try!

Hamoa Beach is 222 steps from the Buckley's front door! 

James A. Michener wrote, Paradoxically, the only beach I have ever seen that looks like the South Pacific was in the North Pacific. Hamoa Beach on Maui Island in Hawai'i; a beach so perfectly formed that I wonder at its comparative obscurity. Formed into the shape of a half moon, it is rimmed by boulders of lava and guarded by tall volcanic needles. Pandanus [Hala] trees line the shore, which offers a crescent of black and silver sand.

We each pulled up a beach chair, watched while Denny went for a (long, incredibly arduous) swim in the ocean, and chatted the daylight away. I LOVE that I am a part of a family that knows no secrets. I asked question after question to get to know them better and learn more about my mom and her family. Denny and Doris met in high school, so because of the age difference between Denny and my mom (13 years?), Doris is as much a sister as her other 3. I didn't know my grandmother well (she lived in California most of my life), and like I said, my grandfather passed away when my mom was young. However, hearing Denny talk about them made me feel so much of a connection to my family. There is so much love and respect in the (entire) Buckley family, and Uncle Denny really has been the patriarch. I am so thankful to know and appreciate him this much more.

We absolutely LOVED our time in Hana. I can't even put into words (which is ironic because this is a really long post) how special it was for us to be there. We can't wait to go back!