When was the last time you took the time to set some goals or revisit the ones you set earlier this year? 

The best way to do things is with the right goals in mind. Always revisit your goals, whether it be finishing a long-term project at work, saving for a big trip, or losing weight, you have to be motivated to do it.

Set deadlines for yourself! Nothing will get done if you spend time perfecting every aspect or waiting around until “the perfect time” comes. Also don’t spend too much time obsessing about a certain task. Think of the end result and weigh the impact of the accomplishment against the gritty details that may not matter. But also don’t execute with haste and carelessness. 

Your goals are your own and it feels great to know you worked hard to get there! Now I’ll return to my goal-setting session…

My grandmother passed away shortly after my last post. She was a true warrior and it was extremely hard to accept that she’s gone. I went back and forth about writing about her on here because well, it’s so personal. She raised me most of my life and has been a constant, comforting presence.

As much as I’d like to tell my readers about her legacy, I’ll keep this post limited to what I designed for her celebration of life event. I wanted to do something that was clean, iconic, and had her favorite colors: pink and lavender. Some design elements that went into making her celebration of life extra special were custom Mahalo cards, a sleek photo slideshow of her best moments, and her printed program. I provided the graphics, of course, and my good friends at Service Printers Hawaii had provided the printing services. My family wanted her celebration of life to be as clean, classy, and professional as possible, so we made sure of that.

We will definitely miss her vibrant spirit and laughs. It was an honor to give her the celebration of life she deserved.

I took Brentt and our cousin, Conner, for a drive and to cross the last thing off my to-do list: get Grams a Christmas gift. After we all agreed on a gift, we had some collage fun with the murals in Kaka’ako.

 
I made it to Barcelona! After traveling for 17 hours, we arrived in Barcelona this morning. 
My aunt and uncle surprised me with a trip to Spain and Italy for my 30th birthday and my mom is coming along too! 

We’re a bit jet lagged so we decided to just hit up La Boquería for some snacks and cool things to see. We saw and sampled lots of jamón, dulces, gelato, and seafood! 

I’ll be posting lots more photos soon. Stay tuned!

When I’m on paleo, I tend to obsess over food. Especially when recipes for dessert pop up on my Pinterest feed. Right now, I’m currently obsessed with these pineapple donuts by Brie Zacher, a DIY blogger that knows how to entertain. Her ideas are ridiculously cute! You can gawk at her adorable projects at like-the-cheese.com.

As everyone starts their new year resolutions…I’m getting back to eating paleo. I did it for about four months until the traveling and holidays hit. Then KABOOM! I don’t think you’re ready for this jelly. If you only knew what I ate during my travels and at family gatherings on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve…

Anyway, today is my fifth day on paleo and I’ve officially entered the period of withdrawals. Ohhh yes. Like an addict, I’m experiencing some major cravings for anything with sugar or lots of salt and basically a sudden intolerance with all that exists. I just can’t deal. It’s not just the cravings for cookies, pizza, or fries, it’s the cravings for the simplest things like bread or a sweet latte in the morning.

I admit I took a cookie from the office snack table today. It had coconut and it was so crunchy – then I needed milk to dunk it in. There’s just no end to the doors of opportunity that a simple, light coconut cookie can open for you. Next thing you know, you’re craving for sushi because that cookie was just wayyyy too sweet.

I obsess. About food. Speaking of food…that’s a photo of what I made this week. It’s paleo tacos, also known as lettuce wraps. They were actually filling and tasty because I had lots to work with. I used lean ground beef, paleo taco seasoning, pan-fried portobello mushrooms with taco seasoning and olive oil, avo, jalapeños, salsa verde, tomatoes, black olives, and cilantro.

My cousin Angela graduated with her Master’s Degree last month! I’m so proud of her and what she has accomplished. She asked me to take some photos of her for her parents.

She asked me to meet her and her boyfriend, Josh, at Foster Botanical Garden on Vineyard Boulevard. It was a pretty fun place to shoot! There were so many things to play with: a greenhouse, sculptures, a gazebo and a butterfly garden.

I’m so proud of you Ang! I wish you the best.

This photo was taken during our trip to Guam, just days before my little brother’s 14th birthday. He’s just as tall as me now. Boo.

 

I’d like to share something so close to my heart. These photos haven’t been edited in any way, they’re not what I would consider my best work as far as being a photographer, but they are my most meaningful works of art.

During mid-December of last year, my grandmother was going through a tough time. She was diagnosed with dementia two years ago and sometimes goes into a deep depression. Let’s say she experienced a long period of depression during the holidays – I attribute it to various highs and lows of everyone’s energy surrounding her. My brother, Brentt, is kind of like her reason to live. He could watch cartoons on TV next to her all day and she’d be happy, but he doesn’t do that very often. He spends time with her, jokes around and even serenades her with his ukulele. The kid is golden.

She had been asking my parents to send him from Guam to visit her for Christmas and they told her a round trip ticket would be too expensive for them. Well, my brother ended up surprising my grandmother just before Christmas and she has been in good spirits (even after he returned to Guam for school). Right before he left, I asked the two of them to pose for me. These photos (unedited, untouched and raw) still make her laugh. She’s even agreed to visit him in Guam this month.