We all have our own battles in life we must fight. Sometimes we do it alone and sometimes we have help from our friends and family. Often when we are fighting these battles, bystanders become blinded and take sides without knowing what the battle is truly about. Today was a lesson for me on those bystanders. I am guilty of holding grudges as so many of us are. Today was a a lesson on letting go of the past, offering up forgiveness, receiving forgiveness, and ultimately, having a mutual understanding. It's a hard lesson to learn on both sides but one that taught me a lot. Not only about myself but about others. Hopefully we all can take that lesson, reach into our past, and mend at least one fence. I'm certainly glad I did.
And no I don't mean aliens, other life forms or any other critter, creation, etc that people may think exists in our universe. :) I just wonder in general, about life. Like, am I living up to my potential? I've been battling this in my head the past few weeks and it's hard. It's hard to realize that you aren't living up to your full potential but not knowing what you can do about it.
I know that my calling in life is not to be a stay at home mom. I see great things for me outside of raising children. This is what life has handed to me though for the time being. How do you reconcile that with knowing this isn't what you are supposed to be doing (staying at home)? I'm in school and should have my degree in about a year but then what? What if I can't find a job? Am I destined to stay at home forever?
Maybe I'm just anxious to get back in the swing of the girls being in school and me having time to focus on me. But then again, don't we all wonder what the future holds for each of us and if we'll be doing what our heart desires or just settling? I'm kind of tired of settling....
I know that my calling in life is not to be a stay at home mom. I see great things for me outside of raising children. This is what life has handed to me though for the time being. How do you reconcile that with knowing this isn't what you are supposed to be doing (staying at home)? I'm in school and should have my degree in about a year but then what? What if I can't find a job? Am I destined to stay at home forever?
Maybe I'm just anxious to get back in the swing of the girls being in school and me having time to focus on me. But then again, don't we all wonder what the future holds for each of us and if we'll be doing what our heart desires or just settling? I'm kind of tired of settling....
Pictures are coming, I promise! Mike took about a bazillion so I need to just find the time to go through them. So bear with me and thanks for being patient!
One of the reasons I've been a little slack on getting them on the computer is I've had my eyeballs glued to the news since the verdict for George Zimmerman was announced. I really need to get this off my chest and can't do it on Facebook without getting attacked by some. I figured since this is my blog, I can control what is posted by others so this is the perfect avenue.
To say I'm heartbroken for the Martin family isn't enough. I cannot wrap my mind around the entire messed up situation, from the start until now. Nothing about it makes any sense to me. I'll be the first to admit I am at the mercy of the media. I know the media can be biased and I know that certain news outlets are biased. To help with that I read lots of different news sources and try to stay away from the far left and right ones. I also don't have a law degree so a lot of the legalities are beyond what my mind can understand. But I am human, I'm a mom, and I am an American. I believe in rights, justice and being fair. I wish I could say that those 6 women on the jury in Florida did as well.
I always try to put myself in other people's shoes in order to understand the situation. At the beginning of this, I tried to put myself in Zimmerman's shoes to understand why he did what he did. No matter how hard I try, I can't understand it. It wasn't his job to follow Trayvon, all he needed to do was call the police and report a suspicious person. While he did call the police, he was told to stay put. In my eyes, this is where it started, where the instigation first began. George did not stay put, he followed Trayvon. Now put yourself in Trayvon's shoes. You're a 17 year old kid being followed by a grown man, you're scared, probably a little mad, so you run. Unfortunately the dude following you starts chasing you. You're adrenaline has kicked in and you're 100% in fight or flight mode. Being a female, I would run but we all know how males are, they fight.
Now I don't know what happened once Zimmerman and Martin were face to face. There was a scuffle and Trayvon was shot. I don't know who threw the first punch but it shouldn't matter. Zimmerman was following a kid armed with tea and skittles. Did he try calling out to Trayvon? Does it matter? He was told not to follow him. One thing that does stand out to me is that Trayvon still had his earbuds in when the police arrived. Does a guy that's about to fight keep his headphones on? Also, where was the DNA on Trayvon that belonged to Zimmerman? Why wasn't there any if there was a bloody altercation? It's not like Martin could wipe his hands off. Of course this is all what Zimmerman told police, Martin didn't get a chance to...
The big thing about this trial is the whole stand your ground rule. Why didn't Trayvon get his chance to stand his ground? He was essentially stalked by a grown man, where's his chance to say "hey, this man was following me and I didn't like it"? He never even got a chance...
The whole situation is so sad. A lot of the inbetweens don't make a bit of sense. They will never make sense. All I know is that the jury confuses me and one kid is gone. A sad situation all the way around.
One of the reasons I've been a little slack on getting them on the computer is I've had my eyeballs glued to the news since the verdict for George Zimmerman was announced. I really need to get this off my chest and can't do it on Facebook without getting attacked by some. I figured since this is my blog, I can control what is posted by others so this is the perfect avenue.
To say I'm heartbroken for the Martin family isn't enough. I cannot wrap my mind around the entire messed up situation, from the start until now. Nothing about it makes any sense to me. I'll be the first to admit I am at the mercy of the media. I know the media can be biased and I know that certain news outlets are biased. To help with that I read lots of different news sources and try to stay away from the far left and right ones. I also don't have a law degree so a lot of the legalities are beyond what my mind can understand. But I am human, I'm a mom, and I am an American. I believe in rights, justice and being fair. I wish I could say that those 6 women on the jury in Florida did as well.
I always try to put myself in other people's shoes in order to understand the situation. At the beginning of this, I tried to put myself in Zimmerman's shoes to understand why he did what he did. No matter how hard I try, I can't understand it. It wasn't his job to follow Trayvon, all he needed to do was call the police and report a suspicious person. While he did call the police, he was told to stay put. In my eyes, this is where it started, where the instigation first began. George did not stay put, he followed Trayvon. Now put yourself in Trayvon's shoes. You're a 17 year old kid being followed by a grown man, you're scared, probably a little mad, so you run. Unfortunately the dude following you starts chasing you. You're adrenaline has kicked in and you're 100% in fight or flight mode. Being a female, I would run but we all know how males are, they fight.
Now I don't know what happened once Zimmerman and Martin were face to face. There was a scuffle and Trayvon was shot. I don't know who threw the first punch but it shouldn't matter. Zimmerman was following a kid armed with tea and skittles. Did he try calling out to Trayvon? Does it matter? He was told not to follow him. One thing that does stand out to me is that Trayvon still had his earbuds in when the police arrived. Does a guy that's about to fight keep his headphones on? Also, where was the DNA on Trayvon that belonged to Zimmerman? Why wasn't there any if there was a bloody altercation? It's not like Martin could wipe his hands off. Of course this is all what Zimmerman told police, Martin didn't get a chance to...
The big thing about this trial is the whole stand your ground rule. Why didn't Trayvon get his chance to stand his ground? He was essentially stalked by a grown man, where's his chance to say "hey, this man was following me and I didn't like it"? He never even got a chance...
The whole situation is so sad. A lot of the inbetweens don't make a bit of sense. They will never make sense. All I know is that the jury confuses me and one kid is gone. A sad situation all the way around.
Before I start, pictures are coming! I just need to get them downloaded so be patient w/ me!
Day 3: it consisted of absolutely nothing! Seriously. We went to the beach and to the commissary. It was so nice to be able to do nothing, no stress, no plans, no worries!
I forgot to say that we extended our trip until Monday! United was able to move our tickets to a later date so we could get the full 5 days in.
Day 4: We ventured out to the Byodo-In Temple and to Kaneohe Bay. The temple is really interesting and the grounds are beautiful. It's located in the middle of the Valley of the Temples Memorial Park. The cemetery has graves sites that are for Christian and Buddhists, as well as other religions. The Buddhists grave sites were quite interesting. They are for a family and on the back, the family tree is listed with birth and death dates.
K-Bay has got to have the prettiest water on the island. It is absolutely stunning to see! The base wasn't all that impressive, it was a base, lol. I did far prefer this side of the island to the Waikiki side. It's much greener and a lot less touristy.
We stopped by Leonard's on the way home and got some malasadas. If you ever get a chance to have a warm malasadas, get one! Holy goodness it was so good!
That night we hopped on a bus and went to the Paradise Cove luau. It was a lot of fun and there was a lot of great food. Mikayla and I got some Polynesian tattoos while Mike and Madison tried their fate in spear throwing and bowling (which I can't remember the name now!). Oh, the mai tais. I may have a new favorite drink!
Day 5: Surf's up! We went to the famous North Shore on Friday. Of course, there were no huge waves since it is Summer. The waves that you read about and see are during the fall and winter months. That's okay though. We were able to see a honu (Hawaiian green sea turtle) basking on the beach, had a great lunch with a gorgeous view, and the most awesome shaved ice there is! On the way back we stopped by the Dole Plantation (not too exciting). One thing that did amaze me was there are pineapple plants for as far as the eye can see across the road. It was really strange to see knowing that they've been growing for so long!
Day 6: We ventured to the swap meet at the Aloha Stadium Saturday. It was hot and humid with a little rain. I had checked out the reviews on Yelp before going and they were spot on. Every 5 or so booths, you started repeating what you had already seen. We were able to see people carving out the tiki statues and designing wooden surfboards so that was really interesting. The girls were able to spend a little money so you know they were thrilled! For lunch we went to Moe's! All of my East Coast peeps always talk about Moe's and I'm glad we finally had a chance to try it out. Can I tell you how good it is? The queso is like the kind they have on the East Coast, definitely missed by this lady. I will definitely miss Moe's and can't wait to go back....someone needs to open one in SoCal!
We drove to the National Cemetery of the Pacific, aka Punchbowl Cemetery, after lunch. It was an interesting place to see, very different from other National Cemeteries that I had seen before. Buried there is the first unknown military member from the attack on Pearl Harbor. There are also some other well known people buried there.
Day 7 took us to Pearl Harbor to see the Arizona Memorial. Talk about somber. It was really neat to see but so sad at the same time. Over 950 are buried there, with some survivors buried there to be with their shipmates. There is still oil leaking from the USS Arizona. The day before Pearl Harbor was attacked, the ship was just filled with oil to prepare for drills on the 8th. The total amount on board before it was attacked was around 1 million gallons. There are about 500,000 gallons of oil left and about 3-4 quarts leak out a day. The drops, before they spread, are called Sailor's Tears. The Navy dives down once a month to check the status of the oil and the ship. They suspect that the ship will break down and release the oil before the rest of it is leaked out.
After the memorial we went back to the mall for lunch. I had to get some more queso (ha) and we had lunch at Farrell's. Mike got a very unbirthday singing to in the form of a Spice Girls song. It was quite funny and the staff there was awesome! If you ever get a chance to go, take advantage of it (and make sure to save room for ice cream!).
Afterwards we went to Queen Emma's Summer "Palace". I put palace in quotes because there is only 4 rooms in the house. It was pretty but definitely not worth the $ we spent to see it.
Later that day we went to hang out with the Garrett family before we all headed back to the mainland. We had a wonderful time being able to see them again and getting to know the family better. After we left and ventured back to our car, we found out it had been towed! We had overstayed our parking so they came in and took it. It was an expensive lesson but such is life right?!!! The girls did get to ride in a cab for the first time, lol!
Day 8 had us waking up at zero dark thirty and getting on a plane back home. There were no delays, no drama, lots of turbulence, and a window seat for me so I could sleep. :)
There is still a lot I want to see in Hawaii!!! The girls were told next time they can stay home, lol! Oahu is beautiful, I love the plumeria trees and wish I could bring one home! It was definitely a check off the bucket list but now I need to add it back so we can visit some other islands! The trip was definitely one for the books, a little sanity with some insanity on either end....typical Tranchitella style!!!
Day 3: it consisted of absolutely nothing! Seriously. We went to the beach and to the commissary. It was so nice to be able to do nothing, no stress, no plans, no worries!
I forgot to say that we extended our trip until Monday! United was able to move our tickets to a later date so we could get the full 5 days in.
Day 4: We ventured out to the Byodo-In Temple and to Kaneohe Bay. The temple is really interesting and the grounds are beautiful. It's located in the middle of the Valley of the Temples Memorial Park. The cemetery has graves sites that are for Christian and Buddhists, as well as other religions. The Buddhists grave sites were quite interesting. They are for a family and on the back, the family tree is listed with birth and death dates.
K-Bay has got to have the prettiest water on the island. It is absolutely stunning to see! The base wasn't all that impressive, it was a base, lol. I did far prefer this side of the island to the Waikiki side. It's much greener and a lot less touristy.
We stopped by Leonard's on the way home and got some malasadas. If you ever get a chance to have a warm malasadas, get one! Holy goodness it was so good!
That night we hopped on a bus and went to the Paradise Cove luau. It was a lot of fun and there was a lot of great food. Mikayla and I got some Polynesian tattoos while Mike and Madison tried their fate in spear throwing and bowling (which I can't remember the name now!). Oh, the mai tais. I may have a new favorite drink!
Day 5: Surf's up! We went to the famous North Shore on Friday. Of course, there were no huge waves since it is Summer. The waves that you read about and see are during the fall and winter months. That's okay though. We were able to see a honu (Hawaiian green sea turtle) basking on the beach, had a great lunch with a gorgeous view, and the most awesome shaved ice there is! On the way back we stopped by the Dole Plantation (not too exciting). One thing that did amaze me was there are pineapple plants for as far as the eye can see across the road. It was really strange to see knowing that they've been growing for so long!
Day 6: We ventured to the swap meet at the Aloha Stadium Saturday. It was hot and humid with a little rain. I had checked out the reviews on Yelp before going and they were spot on. Every 5 or so booths, you started repeating what you had already seen. We were able to see people carving out the tiki statues and designing wooden surfboards so that was really interesting. The girls were able to spend a little money so you know they were thrilled! For lunch we went to Moe's! All of my East Coast peeps always talk about Moe's and I'm glad we finally had a chance to try it out. Can I tell you how good it is? The queso is like the kind they have on the East Coast, definitely missed by this lady. I will definitely miss Moe's and can't wait to go back....someone needs to open one in SoCal!
We drove to the National Cemetery of the Pacific, aka Punchbowl Cemetery, after lunch. It was an interesting place to see, very different from other National Cemeteries that I had seen before. Buried there is the first unknown military member from the attack on Pearl Harbor. There are also some other well known people buried there.
Day 7 took us to Pearl Harbor to see the Arizona Memorial. Talk about somber. It was really neat to see but so sad at the same time. Over 950 are buried there, with some survivors buried there to be with their shipmates. There is still oil leaking from the USS Arizona. The day before Pearl Harbor was attacked, the ship was just filled with oil to prepare for drills on the 8th. The total amount on board before it was attacked was around 1 million gallons. There are about 500,000 gallons of oil left and about 3-4 quarts leak out a day. The drops, before they spread, are called Sailor's Tears. The Navy dives down once a month to check the status of the oil and the ship. They suspect that the ship will break down and release the oil before the rest of it is leaked out.
After the memorial we went back to the mall for lunch. I had to get some more queso (ha) and we had lunch at Farrell's. Mike got a very unbirthday singing to in the form of a Spice Girls song. It was quite funny and the staff there was awesome! If you ever get a chance to go, take advantage of it (and make sure to save room for ice cream!).
Afterwards we went to Queen Emma's Summer "Palace". I put palace in quotes because there is only 4 rooms in the house. It was pretty but definitely not worth the $ we spent to see it.
Later that day we went to hang out with the Garrett family before we all headed back to the mainland. We had a wonderful time being able to see them again and getting to know the family better. After we left and ventured back to our car, we found out it had been towed! We had overstayed our parking so they came in and took it. It was an expensive lesson but such is life right?!!! The girls did get to ride in a cab for the first time, lol!
Day 8 had us waking up at zero dark thirty and getting on a plane back home. There were no delays, no drama, lots of turbulence, and a window seat for me so I could sleep. :)
There is still a lot I want to see in Hawaii!!! The girls were told next time they can stay home, lol! Oahu is beautiful, I love the plumeria trees and wish I could bring one home! It was definitely a check off the bucket list but now I need to add it back so we can visit some other islands! The trip was definitely one for the books, a little sanity with some insanity on either end....typical Tranchitella style!!!
Many of you know that we've been living in Cali for almost forever and we're never leaving right? ha ha! Well hopefully the last part isn't true but regardless, it was time of the T fam to take advantage of West Coast living and visit even further west! The T fam packed up on June 24th and headed to the airport for a week in Hawaii! *this is where your happy dance begins*
Day 1: *happy dance continues* We headed down to San Diego for our flight to San Fran. San Diego doesn't have direct flights to HI so you have to fly to either LA or SF, so weird! We checked in, did the whole security thing and got ready to do the waiting. *this is where your happy dance stops* We waited...and waited... A 1:30 flight ended up being delayed by 2 hours. At first it was air traffic control and then it was weather (still don't know the real answer since other flights from other airlines were landing in SF perfectly fine!). We only had an hour layover in SF so we had our fingers crossed that United was delayed in leaving SF as well.
We finally take off and get to SF, 10 min. after our connecting flight closed its doors. Everyone with me now...WHAT?!!! Now we've flown plenty of times and have never missed a connecting flight. I have also never heard of a flight NOT being held when there is a decent sized group that is on the way (yes, there were over 10 people that were on the way that landed just after the flight to HI closed it's doors). Thankfully United put us on the "next available" flight that had space....7 pm on Tuesday. Again, WHAT?!!! So Mike and I ventured to the customer service place and stood in an ever growing line to get this situated. We ended up being put on a 4:15 flight on Tuesday with guaranteed seats and on a 9:30 flight standby. Off to the USO we go! (BTW, the SF USO is AMAZING! The volunteers were so kind, a huge thanks to them!!!). It was a long night but we survived. Still not happy...
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| sleepy at the USO |
Day 2: *semi-happy dance* Wash, rinse, repeat.... Got seats on the 9:30 flight but it is delayed. First it's in the hanger, then there's a mechanical issue, then there is only one runway, then it's in Atlanta (huh?!). We never got a straight answer as to why this flight was delayed for 7 (yes SEVEN) hours. During this time we did meet an amazing family that we became instant friends with (hurray for rainbows!!!). So 3:30 rolls around and off we go to get on the 4:15 flight. The only holdup was it needed to be brought in from the hanger (uh....anyone see an issue here?). So we all got seats on this flight, new friends included. We were FINALLY on our way, still in the same clothes, already tired of airport food and in desperate need of a shower!!!
Day 3 and beyond are to come!
I am a victim! I've been a major slacker on this blog the last year (for very valid reasons mind you!) and really hadn't given it any thought at all! Until I started getting little pushes and then big shoves to start blogging again. So here it is, in all it's glory. Bits of sanity, lots of insanity, my inner musings, my opinions, etc. Take it as you will and remember we are all entitled to our own opinions and insanity haunts us all, ha ha!!
