Friday, September 28, 2018

Happy Birthday Dad!!!!

Happy birthday Daddy!

My Dad is the greatest man I have known! He is super supportive and did everything in his power to equip me for real life.

No, he was not my best friend and he did not co-sign bad behavior. He told me when I was wrong, punished me when I was wrong and taught me life skills to survive as an adult...alone...by myself.

I know so many women that need a men...they never learned how to check oil, change a tire, fix something that breaks (google is my best friend)...or even balance a checkbook, rotate tires, select insurance or pay taxes.

My Dad taught me all of that and then some! He never allowed us to have things done for us; he made us learn how to do them. To this day, all my sisters are better "handymen" than their husbands! I am so grateful for that!

He taught me that I do not NEED a man in my life to be complete....if someone comes along that adds to my life then perfect but so far, I am okay on my own. I do not feel the need to settle just so I am not alone.

My nieces and nephews call him Poppy but he is Dad to me!

Thanks you Dad for everything you have taught me and all you have shown me just by being you! I love you so much more than you will EVER know!!!!

Here he is being Antonio Brown...


Here he is with my mother a few years ago...

Here he is from years ago...he would sit for hours and let us give him ponytails...LOL! Look closely and you will see one...HA!

The family when we were kids...

And last year...

Thanks for being my Dad! I could not have chosen a better one!


Thursday, September 27, 2018

Thinking Out Loud Thursday and Thankful Thursday

It's Thursday!!! ...you know what that means?!?!?!

Tomorrow is Friday!!! Yippee!!!

It has been a seriously long week so I am just going to get right into it!

I am Thankful I have a roof over my head and a full belly...I am also very thankful that life has ups and downs and happy and sad times. I just enjoyed a weeks vacation in paradise and I think I appreciate it way more since it has been chaos since I got home! LOL! It helps me to not take things for granted. Does that make sense?!?! I am so grateful for those 7 days of bliss and no worries and I appreciate that time I spent with my mother so much!!! I know so many people cannot afford to do that at all.

I am Thinking Out Loud how blessed I am that my family is coming into town this weekend to hang out with me and run the Great Race in Pittsburgh. We do this every year and it is always great tie to enjoy each others company.  We also take this time to celebrate my fathers birthday this weekend since we are all together!!! YIPPEE!

I cannot wait to read everyone else responses today. I hope everyone has a wonderful day and please know how much I appreciate every supportive comment you guys leave for me! It makes all the difference in the world to me!!! HUGS TO YOU ALL!



Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Just Talk Already!

Hi everyone! I hope everyone enjoyed their Monday!!! I just got back from vacation and life has splatted me quickly in the face!!!!  Today I am the bug on the windshield!!!  Oh Lord, baby Jesus...this dishwasher thing has turned into a nightmare!!!!

Lowe's is dragging their feet and having issues communicating with the estimator they sent to review the damages that their improperly installed dishwasher (they chose the installer and completed the installation) caused and my poor neighbor below me still has not had anyone start working on drying out his wall! UGH!! He is saying that he can't live there and that it stinks and his floor is buckling.  I feel bad for him but I also do not know why he is waiting...if it was my wall; I would start the work and then get the money back from Lowe's but he is doing nothing until he gets a check from Lowe's for the work!!

I think that's crazy and it is just going to be a bigger issue in the end but whatever! He is now threatening to sue me since Lowe's is taking so long so I made a precautionary call to my home owners to give them a heads up that this may be coming.  Again, I am not sure who lets water sit behind their wall and under their flooring for three weeks and do nothing?!?! I have never heard of such a thing!!!

So basically, I am spending hours a day fighting to get the Lowe's estimator to talk to the Lowe's adjuster (she is saying they never speak to their adjusters in person that they are supposed to send an email report and the estimator is saying that he needs to talk to her in person to file his report)?!?!

So they have been going back and forth for three weeks doing this?!?!

WHAT?!?!?

CRAZY, right?!?!?

Hopefully, they will connect soon before he calls the lawyers...UGH!

Here's hoping all of you are having a better week than me! At least I have are first world problems; I know many others have it so much worse but sometimes I feel the need to gripe about it...thanks for always listening and supporting! Any advice is ALWAYS appreciated! 

I am sooo very happy this show is back on...

I waited with baited breath last night and it did not disappoint! I can hardly wait until next weeks show!!! Love every character on this show!

PS - Stay tuned! I will be posting my 1000th post in a few days and I want to make sure you all get in on the action! I am planning a giveaway...not a trip or car or anything huge but a giveaway all the same!

Stay tuned!!!! Don't miss out!




Tuesday, September 25, 2018

I missed you all and videos were duds?!?!?!?

Happy Tuesday morning everyone!!!

I hope everyone is doing well this week. I know I am now!!!

I got home late Sunday night and had to be in work on Monday morning to run a workshop at 7am!  So last night, I went home after work and went directly to bed and slept until 8 this am!

I feel amazing and recharged and happy! I had such a great week in Hawaii visiting my friend and spending time with her BF and my mother and her friend!

But...in the end...it is always nice to get home! I really missed my babies and I think they missed me too!!! I have been getting lots of loving and snuggles since I returned!!

I went back this morning to look over my posts from last week and realized that none of my videos worked! WHAT!?!?!?! That was the best part! I wanted to make sure you guys felt like you were along for the ride!!!

So, I just went back through and added the videos for all the events...

Also, I will add them here in order so if you don't feel like going back through the old posts...you can watch them all now!! How's that?!?!?

I hope you all enjoy the video recaps and I am so happy to be home!!!! I will now be catching up on all the blog posts I missed along the way also!!!  Maholo (thanks) for following me! Hugs to you all and you really are so important to me!




Backcountry adventures in Kauai - tubing 1 from ann wolfe on Vimeo.


Backcountry adventures tubing in Kauai from ann wolfe on Vimeo.


Backcountry adventures in Kauai-tubing 2 from ann wolfe on Vimeo.


Tunnel of trees Kauai from ann wolfe on Vimeo.


Kauai Heritage Trail hike from ann wolfe on Vimeo.


Captain Andy’s Napali Cruise and Snorkel from ann wolfe on Vimeo.


Captain Andy’s Napali Cruise and Snorkel 2 from ann wolfe on Vimeo.


Captain Andy’s Napali Cruise and Snorkel from ann wolfe on Vimeo.


Spouting Horn -Kauai Hawaii from ann wolfe on Vimeo.


Sunset off Kauai from ann wolfe on Vimeo.


Zip line #1 from ann wolfe on Vimeo.


Zipline #2 from ann wolfe on Vimeo.


Saturday, September 22, 2018

Day six-zip lining and dinner

In the afternoon, we were scheduled to go zip lining with my friend Mariela (that I came to visit) and my mom and her friend.

Before we were ready to head out, I spent a little time at the pool!!! It was completely awesome!! Our weather has been amazing!!!!!



Here we are at zip lining!!! Checked in and wearing our helmets!!! The hills we were zipping through are behind us!!!


Here is my mom and her friend...


And here is me and Mariela...


While we were zipping, we passed tons of trees with pineapple guava!!! We picked them right off the trees and ate them-they were sooo delish!!!


The red ones tasted like strawberry and the yellow like pineapple!!! So yummy!  You eat the whole thing...skin and all!!!


Here is a cute one of Mariela and my Mom!!!


Here is a pic of the zip line and trees...


And another!!! It was so fun!


One more....


I am including a video - I tried to video a few runs to bring you along...
Hopefully you feel like you are there!!! 

I am leaving you today with a few pictures of some adorable cats! We had dinner at Keiko’s Paradise restaurant and there was an adorable stray cat and her two kittens living near the outdoor patio. They stopped to visit while we were eating! Soooo cute!!!

This tiny girl on the wall is mom...

And here are her kittens...such cuties!!! I fed them my steak so they would stay around longer!!!  I am definitely missing my cats!!!!


I hope everyone is having a great week!!! I miss my babies at home and I think we are all getting on each other’s nerves at this point so it is time to head home! Lol! We fly home soon but I can re-live my trip anytime through my blog!!! 

Hugs to you all and mahalo for reading and following!!!






Day six-walk in the am and condo tour

Aloha from Kauai, Hawaii!!!

It is day six so we actually leave tomorrow! How can this be possible?!?! It went so super fast!!!

We started the day with a walk to go find a newspaper. If you have never been to Kauai, you won’t understand but there are roosters and chickens everywhere here!!  From what the islanders say, they all escaped from cock fighting companies when they had a hurricane in 1992 and they were never rounded up. They have reproduced like crazy!!! We asked why they don’t eat them and from what I understand they had sacred chickens and hens that they revered on the island and the cock fighting chickens and roosters mixed in and now they cannot eat any of the chickens? That is the explaination I got...lol! Here is a rooster walking through our parking lot!!! Kinds pretty but the are everywhere!!!


Here is a banana tree on our walk!!!



And a closer look at the baby bananas...


I will give you a tour of our condo... this is the room my moms friend got...they checked in first and my mother thought we should share a room with twin beds (the only issue is the room my moms friend took is the only one one with air!!!!) if you are looking for air conditioner, DO NOT STAY AT THE ASTON AT POIPU. It sucked at night to not have air-especially with these hortible hot flashes!!!! Ugh!!!


Here is her bathroom-attached to her room.


Here is the crappy room with no air and short beds...I guess if that is the worst thing that happened this week, I cannot complain, right? NEVER will I stay without air again though! Lol!


This is a contraption I rigged to try to suck some of the air conditioned air into our room using a propped up fan...it did not work...lol!


Here is our washer and dryer and bathroom my mom and I shared.


Here is the family room and door to the patio...


And the kitchen...see all the chicken and rooster decor-they love these chickens! Ha!




Friday, September 21, 2018

Day five-strolling, beaching, pool sitting and sunsets

Happy Thursday from Kauai, Hawaii all!!! I can’t believe the week is almost over-it sure goes quick when you are on vacation!!!!

Today we had no excursions planned so it was a nice chill day spent mostly with a little hike and time on the beach.

We ended trying a walk at the Kukoiolono Park  Here is a picture from the path...


Another...I loved this flower!!!


After our little (and very hot) walk we went home to spend a few hours laying on the beach.

We ended up at the Shipwreck Beach...

Ahhhhh...



Here I am swimming out to sea-the waves are crazy out there!!!


And I’m on the right in this photo...I look so dark in this photo!!!! Wow!!!


I will leave you with pictures of the beauty of the beach!!




My mom bringing her chair from the shade to the sun to hang with me for a while...


After a few hours at the beach we went to the pool for a while longer and then showered for dinner...here is my mom and I before dinner! We shopped a little at the stores in Kukui’ula Village Shopping Center and then went to dinner.


We had dinner at Kiawe Roots  It was a recommendation from my friend Mariela and it ended up being fantastic! Not only was it reasonably priced the food was delicious! They have a really cool patio in the open air so it makes your dining experience even better.


Here is my meal. I had a brisket sandwich...sooo yummy!


After dinner, we went down to watch the sunset...enough said!!!


Here is the sunset filmed in high speed - it turned out awesome!!!!


Sunset off Kauai from ann wolfe on Vimeo.

And one final sunset picture for you to end the night! Now I am off to bed!!!

Nighty nite! Hope you all have a wonderful Friday!!!!

Hugs!





Thursday, September 20, 2018

Day four - evening at Spouting Horn

Hi everyone!!! My last post was really long so rather than append it; I am adding a part two onto day four. LOL!

Before dinner we decided to stop by the Spouting Horn Natural wonder. It was super neat- you can read all about it here.



The pictures are pretty but I cannot do this place justice with pictures alone.


So below is a video so you can see what it is all about!! Super cool and the sound it makes every time it spouts is unreal!!!


Happy Thursday y’all!!!! HUGS! Have a great day everyone!!!!

Day four - Capt. Andy’s Na Pali Snorkel Picnic Sail

Good morning guys! Hope everyone is good! Can’t believe it is day four already!!! I have recap dinner last night and then get into explaining our amazing day four!!!

Last night we had an amazing dinner! We decided it should be our splurge night so we made reservations and a fine dining restaurant right on the water in Kauai called The Beach House.

It did not disappoint!!! Here is the view when we arrived a little early for our reservation... beautiful sunset!!!


This little guy just finished surfing while we were there-he was so good and so adorable...look for him in about five years to go pro!!!


Here are my mom and her friend Sandy toasting their fancy drinks! I had to get a picture because they both said it the best drink they ever had!!!! Sandy is in the left and she had Missionary’s downfall and Mom is on the right and she had a Monkeypod Mai Tai. I had water - lol!


This is the view from our dinner table. We asked for a window-how amazing is this view?!?!? Soo breathtaking!!! Our waiter was Mervin and he was spot on with all of his recommendations and the food and service was phenomenal!!!!! PS - the rolls are awesome too!!!


So our day four adventure was Capt. Andy’s Napoli Coast Snorkel Picnic Sail. You can read about it here.  It was a six hour deal that included breakfast, lunch, snorkeling and a catamaran ride along the Na Pali coast of Kauai, Hawaii.

Here we are just on the boat!!


And here is the beautiful coastline.


We drove along and got amazing pictures of waterfalls, caves and cliffs.  We also stopped multiple times to watch sea turtles swimming along and dolphins playing and racing our boat! They like to play in the wake the catamaran makes!! Sooo cool!!! See if you can spot them!!! I swear - the dolphin jumps totally out at the end!

Video 1 HERE

Video 2 HERE


Beautiful!!!


Gods beauty really is unsurpassed!


I was amazing how blue the water was and how massive the cliffs were!


Another waterfall!


It was soooo pretty...the pictures do not do it justice!!! This is where we all got in and snorkeled around-it was so cool!!!!


Another beautiful cliff...


This is where they show a helicopter landing in the Jurassic Park movie...the first one was filmed here.


Our tour guide and captain Sterling said this is the most photographed part of Na Poli coast...you know I wanted to show it to you guys!!!! Beautiful!!!!


Secluded beaches all over the coastline...


Our beautiful selfie with the most amazing backdrop ever!!!



Come along for the cruise below...

Video HERE...


It has been so incredible so far!!! I hope everyone else is having a great week wherever you are! I am savoring ever moment of this time with my mom and every moment of this time in paradise!!! It really is so beautiful and I am so glad I came!!!!


ICU Nurse it is

 Hi everyone!! I am just here checking in quickly. I almost feel bad checking in as it has been an eternity since I posted!!! UGH! Life has ...