Weekly Wrap Up | 1/30/22

Aloha friends!

Well I tested negative for Covid last Sunday and then my son’s school texts me Monday morning telling me he was exposed to a classmate with Covid last Thursday. What a coincidence I thought I had symptoms the weekend my son was exposed (not that we knew that information until later). But I’m good, my son is vaxxed and tested negative with a home test. My family (mom, sister, nephew, dad) are all recovered…well, except my dad who still has a lingering cough. So now I have to get my head back into gear (figuring out Covid exposure and rules had me scrambling around appointments I had this week 🤦🏻‍♀️).

How was your week? Hope all of you are staying safe!

Blog Posts This Week:

Books I Read:

Currently Reading:

Blog Hopping – Check Out These Posts:

Why Do Book Covers Look Similar? – Rab’s Bookish Planet

Arc Review: The Read Palace by. June Hur – The Geekish Brunette

Spotlight Post: The Thirteenth Hour by. Trudie Skies – Monogamist Reader

Let’s Talk Bookish: Re-Reading Books? – DiniPandaReads

Shows/Movies I’ve Watched:

NFL (football) – more football, since it’s coming to an end soon.
Encanto – yup, we watched it a few times this week again and the soundtrack is on repeat!
Euphoria, ep. 2- it’s so edgy and violent but so good and complicated. I hate Nate’s dad so much. And I totally related to the girls wanting something dark in their relationships and how sweet was too boring lol – that was me at that age. 🤦🏻‍♀️
Cheer (season 2 – Netflix) – did I really need to binge this one? I don’t know but I couldn’t stop. It was interesting to see how the cheerleaders dealt with celebrity after season one. There were so many sad parts and some major dramas. They did add more to the TVCC vs. Navarro storyline but honestly, when I was nearing the end, I was kind of skipping the parts about TVCC. I was there to watch the Navarro cheerleaders.
Janet Jackson. (lifetime) – I love Janet Jackson, she was my role model when I was a kid in the 80’s and I continued to love her in my teen years. I saw her twice in concert here in Hawaii. I can’t even believe I also saw Michael Jackson here in Hawaii when he came in the 90’s! What a time to be alive. But she always said she had love for Hawaii and would come here when other big names wouldn’t and so me and my friends loved her even more for it.

Games I’ve Played:

Animal Crossing – Happy Homes Paradise DLC
My Singing Monsters
Pet Sim X – Roblox – just because my daughter wants the new pets! 😅
Just Dance 2022 – I haven’t worked out for 2 weeks and my blood pressure shows. Getting back on my cardio grind.
Ring Fit – the ring really works my arms, that’s how weak I am and to thing once upon a time I was a massage therapist making grown men wince and want to cry lol. I have noodle arms now.

How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!

💖 ~ Yolanda

Weekly Wrap Up | 1/23/22

Aloha friends!

My daughter finally got her first dose of the Pfizer vaxx, and I’m relieved. Also my dad infected my mom, sister, and nephew with covid. He got it from working with my cousin who was positive. My decided on his own that he did not have covid, refused to test or quarantine hence exposing everyone in the house. My brother in law and youngest nephew’s test have come back negative but it’s been quite a week and then some for my family. All I could do was check in on everyone, they live 30 minutes away. I was feeling good until yesterday when I felt like my allergies were acting up badly but also felt a little cold, not quite the chills and an elevated temp, not quite a low grade fever, but since everyone is getting covid, I’m like…I bet I have it. I will go in to test today just to make sure.

I wasn’t exposed to my dad, I haven’t seen them for like 2 weeks and the only places I go to are the grocery stores. My hubby goes into work 3x a week and works at home 2x a week…could it be from him? But he’s been okay so far, and my son tested negative at school on Thursday. My daughter is always with me so…🤷🏻‍♀️. It’s so hard to tell if it’s covid or allergies…but my sister said a very telling sign for her was the fatigue she felt. She had no fever, but she had a very bad head cold and her whole face hurt and she had an itchy throat. Seems like itchy/sore throat was what the ones with positive results had all in common. Everyone in their house has their booster except for my dad.

Anyway – enough of that! How was your week? Hope all of you are staying safe!

Blog Posts This Week:

Books I Read:

Currently Reading:

Shows/Movies I’ve Watched:

NFL (football) – more football
Encanto – I had to watch this after everyone was talking about it on TikTok! Me and my kids love it. I love the music, my kids love the magical realism, and the story is just so good. I love stories about family. Update…watched this 4 times with my kids. It’s so good.
Moana – and because Encanto was so good, I decided to watch Moana right after since Lin Manuel Miranda did the music for that one too. I love his work. But Moana is my favorite – the grandma storyline always makes me cry and miss my grandparents. Plus Moana is such a strong girl! I love her.

Games I’ve Played:

Animal Crossing – Happy Homes Paradise DLC
My Singing Monsters
Pet Sim X – Roblox – just because my daughter wants the new pets! 😅

How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!

💖 ~ Yolanda

Weekly Wrap Up | 1/16/22

Aloha friends!

Another week, and dealing with some stress – so many people around us have covid but right now, praying for anyone who is sick to have a fast recovery! I managed to finish some books, yay and I’m so grateful it’s a 3 day weekend. How was your week?

Blog Posts This Week:

Books I Read:

Currently Reading:

Shows/Movies I’ve Watched:

Good Girls (Netflix) – finished it and by the end I had no sympathy for any of the characters 😅. They could have redeemed themselves so many times but didn’t.
Cheer | Season 2 (Netflix) – I admire the athleticism of cheerleaders, especially the ones that compete – there is so much drama but it’s addicting.
Troy (Netflix) – this is the movie with Brad Pitt but I wanted to watch it because it popped up on Netflix plus after reading The Poison Heart last week, I remembered the name Briseis!!! And her character was in this movie. Plus I miss watching epic movies like Troy and Gladiator.
NFL (football) – because it’s the playoffs and I haven’t really watched all season. But the Eagles are playing (my hubby is from Philly and this is his team) and they are losing right now…🤷🏻‍♀️ but oh well haha, may the best teams get to the Superbowl right?

Games I’ve Played:

Haven’t played much this week, just taking a break so I can read a little more.

How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!

💖 ~ Yolanda

Weekly Wrap Up | 1/9/22

Aloha friends!

It was a busy week for me. Kids dentist appointments, son back in school with covid cases at about 3,000 a day here, but he tested negative for his covid test – yay! That’s one less worry, for now. My daughter had her annual checkup since she just turned 5 and her DTaP vaccine, and now she has a fever so…dealing with that. Just glad she’s still in a good mood. The sun is back out, hooray! But now it’s like 83 degrees outside haha, feels like spring. I was happy when it was in the 70’s range!

Anyway that was my week – how was yours?

Blog Posts This Week:

Books I Read:

Currently Reading:

Shows/Movies I’ve Watched:

Good Girls (Netflix) – my friend told me to binge this one so that’s what I did lol and I’m working on Season 2, I love all the plot twists and all the morally gray characters. It gets a little repetitive with everyone digging deeper holes – will they ever get out of this alive?! lol…so much drama but kind of fun.

Games I’ve Played:

Animal Crossing: New Horizons -barely but I got Leif on Harv’s island so I have been making bells at least.

How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!

💖 ~ Yolanda

Weekly Wrap Up | 1/3/22

Aloha friends!

Another week where I forgot to post a weekly update because who am I kidding it was a busy week! It was raining all week (yay for my grass and plants since our sprinkler system is broken for now) and it did not stop raining on New Year’s Eve either. It stormed – but that didn’t stop the fireworks. No it did not lol. It was so funny I was on instagram dm chatting with an old college friend (she’s in Los Angeles) who I had lost touch with for a bit (life got too busy)…but she was watching the New York Times Square Ball countdown on CNN so we were watching together and I stayed up with her until California hit midnight. So that was nice! My daughter loves the illegal aerial fireworks because they are so pretty, my son does too but the other fireworks where it’s just a bomb sound and nothing else? Is SO annoying. It sets off car alarms and just scares my son. My daughter and the dog surprisingly slept right through it! 😆 At midnight Oahu does what it always does and how weird that the sky stopped raining from 11:45pm – 12:15am…for everyone to light their fireworks. We don’t light fireworks, because I just enjoy everyone else lighting it up lol…I don’t need to spend money that way! HAHA.

Then it stormed again on New Year’s Day and then on Sunday was the combined birthday lunch for my nephew who turned 14 and my daughter who turns 5 today! It rained some more with thunder and lightning but we got through it and she got so many balloons! My sister (her aunt) goes crazy with balloons and confetti lol…since it’s my house and I’ll do the cleaning 😂. Nah, she has two boys so my daughter is like the daughter she always wanted, so little miss is spoiled.

My daughter wanted a Pikmin cake but I wanted a cake that was delicious so I bought my favorite cream cake from a vendor and then printed some Pikmin and laminated them, added toothpicks to them and that was her Pikmin cake. LOL

So that was my week, it was just busy cleaning after Christmas, and now I have to put away our tree and Christmas decorations away this week. Oh also my son’s school has a surge of covid cases (his principal kept keeping us informed all winter break), but today I got a bunch of emails from him saying more people were positive so his school has partnered up with CVS for free voluntary weekly testing for employees/students (and family members!). I got excited about that because those home tests can add up so I signed him up for weekly testing and will sign me and the rest of the family up to so we can take advantage of this free testing. It’s free for us until June. Only a few schools are partnered up with CVS here in Hawaii, and I think his is because there are so many covid cases in our neighborhood. 😣 We are all vaxxed except for my daughter who just turned 5 and will finally be eligible.

So yeah…not exactly how I want to start 2022 but, it is what it is. Stay safe out there!

Anyway that was my week – how was yours?

Blog Posts This Week:

Books I Read:

Currently Reading:

Shows/Movies I’ve Watched:

New Year’s Eve countdown on CNN – they were all drunk lol…which was pretty funny

Games I’ve Played:

Animal Crossing: New Horizons – just a little bit
Roblox: Pet Sim X – just a little bit

How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!

💖 ~ Yolanda

Weekly Wrap Up | 12/27/21

Aloha friends!

Ok I had no weekly updated ready yesterday because I was just exhausted from Christmas! I had to do my last minute Christmas shopping and then make gingerbread houses with the kids on Christmas Eve. Christmas day they were so excited to open presents in the morning – then we went to my family’s house for Christmas lunch and more presents. Got a chance to take a quick nap before it was dinner and we headed to a light show event trolley ride to end the night. Sunday I decided to clean the house, so I could make space to add all the kids new clothes and toys. It was a great Christmas.

Unfortunately covid case counts here in Hawaii are blowing up quick – it sucks. I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy! Friday night is New Year’s Eve and Hawaii gets CRAZY…the whole island is lit up with illegal fireworks. There are some fireworks that are legal as long as you get a permit to light them…but for years since I’ve been a child growing up here, illegal fireworks always make their way into the island and at midnight it’s like a warzone…a very colorful one. They have been lighting fireworks here since Thanksgiving…which is annoying when it’s happening at night, or sometimes even in the early mornings. What are you doing for NYE? Any big plans?

Anyway that was my week – how was yours?

Blog Posts This Week:

Books I Read:

Currently Reading:

Shows/Movies I’ve Watched:

Grease – only the ending because that’s what was on but the songs are classic.
Emily in Paris: S2 – because I live vicariously through Emily, drama and all and it’s so bingeable. I love her best friend in Paris, Mindy. I need season 3 asap.
NFL (football, the American kind lol) – nothing like Sunday Football even if I don’t watch the whole thing and have it on as background noise. I was cleaning on Sunday and needed background noise.

Games I’ve Played:

Animal Crossing: New Horizons – barely had time to play but I did collect more gyroids.
Roblox: Pet Sim X – because a new update came out on Saturday so I’m grinding for coins to get my daughter new pets.

How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? Did you get what you wanted for Christmas?…Leave me a comment below!

💖 ~ Yolanda

Weekly Wrap Up | 12/19/21

Aloha friends!

This week I had to finish up my son’s classmates candy bags and his teacher’s gift. I think I have just a few gift cards to get and I’ll be done for gift shopping! 😅 I’m cleaned out! Broke broke lol…and my daughter’s birthday is on Jan. 3rd so….I’ve been trying to plan out her birthday. It will still be small this year and since my nephew’s birthday is on New Year’s Day, we are just going to combine it and have a birthday lunch on Jan. 2nd. So I’m planning that.

Anyway that was my week – how was yours?

Blog Posts This Week:

Books I Read:

Currently Reading:

Shows/Movies I’ve Watched:

Ever After – only the ending because that’s what was on while I was cooking. But I love this movie.
Wedding Singer – once again, only the ending lol…I have bad timing, but the ending is cute and funny.
Abominable – saw this with my son in the theater few years ago and we loved it so much. Then we saw it was playing on tv and my daughter could watch it with us this time. She’s so cute…my son always would hide when an emotional scene was on the screen. My daughter starts crying when something sad happens and needs me to hold her!
Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch – our favorite version, because it isn’t scary looking lol.
The Witcher (Season 2) – my man, Geralt is back! 😍😆 And my girl, Yennefer!🥰

Games I’ve Played:

Minecraft: Builders & Biomes Strategy Board Game – I bought this for my kids at Hanukkah and we really have fun playing it. Their older cousin wanted to play it this past weekend and they had such a good time. Lots of laughing involved. 🥰
Animal Crossing: New Horizons – my daughter and I had a coffee date at Brewster’s cafe, The Roost. It made her giggle a lot. We finally got crops to plant and I’m excited to cook more things other than fish! Both my kids are obsessed with collecting as many gyroids as they can find! I love that update to the game.
Animal Crossing Pocket Camp – because my daughter and I love all the holiday events.
My Singing Monsters – just to collect my coins and diamonds.
Roblox: Pet Sim X – because a new update came out on Saturday so I’m grinding for coins to get my daughter new pets.

How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? lol…Leave me a comment below!

💖 ~ Yolanda

Weekly Wrap Up | 12/12/21

Aloha friends!

It rained and poured in Hawaii the beginning of this week. The wind was whipping my house Sunday night and the next morning there were uprooted trees, many fallen tree branches, leaves, petals…it was kind of a mess. It rained all day Monday – we haven’t had rained like this even during the hurricane watches we had the past few years. So this week the island was all about getting power up to those who lost it, cleaning up and drying up.

Another thing we are dealing with here in the islands? The Navy’s fuel tank storage from WWII is leaking into the water wells. 😡 It has contaminated the water in the Navy housing community, with people getting sick and now the rest of the public is wondering if our whole system could get contaminated. It’s a mess and very concerning. Our water is okay in our neighborhood but for the areas affected, I hope they do the right thing to fix the situation.

Anyway that was my week – how was yours?

Blog Posts This Week:

Books I Read:

Currently Reading:

Shows I’ve Watched:

Nothing this week!

Music I’ve Listened To:

Just Dance 2022 – my son keeps replaying Mr. Blue Sky by. The Sunlight Shakers and Happier Than Ever by. Billie Eilish, so that’s what I keep hearing lol
Red (Taylor’s Version) by Taylor Swift – because we had torrential rain for 2 days and it matched my mood.

How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you hated? lol…Leave me a comment below!

💖 ~ Yolanda

Weekly Wrap Up | 12/4/21

Aloha friends!

I’m going to try out this weekly wrap up again, I hope I can keep up with it this time. This week was filled with errands and finishing up my Christmas shopping. I still have to ship a few boxes but I am 80% done! My family and I celebrated Hanukkah this past week, so Happy Hanukkah to you all. 💙

I live in Hawaii and usually our days, even in the winter are high in the 80’s/low temps in the 70’s at night but on Friday there was a blizzard warning on the Big Island (basically the biggest island in the Hawaiian state island chain), on the summits which are above 11,000 feet. They get snow every year actually but it’s rare to get blizzard conditions before the rest of the continental USA does lol. So what an event it was when temperatures on Friday night dropped to 60 degrees, lowest was 59 degrees I think. Saturday morning, our high was only 74 degrees – I love it! I’m trying to enjoy this “winter weather” before it climbs back up into the high 80’s again because I know it will, probably in a day or two. 😅

And then the wordpress theme I was using for my blog and apparently got discontinued so my settings were all messed up! UGH…I was so frustrated trying to fix it and find another theme that I liked. For some reason the Widgets were giving me so much trouble. I have it working now and I have a new theme. I guess I like it. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I’m too tired to try out all the themes.

Anyway that was my week – how was yours?

Blog Posts This Week:

Books I Read:

Currently Reading:

Shows I’ve Watched:

Castle For Christmas | Netflix ~ this was a cute holiday rom-com and set in Scotland which is just gorgeous.
Serendipity | Netflix ~ an oldie but goodie, perfect for the holidays. Watching this now that I’m older, I feel so bad for the ex-fiances in this movie! lol…Sarah should’ve just given him her number.
Annie Live! | NBC ~ my kids and I watched this together and they loved it!

Music I’ve Listened To:

An Evening with Silk Sonic by. Silk Sonic – such a good album, really gets me dancing and grooving!
Just Dance 2022 – does this count? My favorite track is Judas by Lady Gaga and anything Black Pink! It’s my daily cardio workout to keep my blood pressure down! 🤣 It works too.
30 by Adele – perfect for when I’m in the kitchen baking something.
All Too Well (10 minute version) by Taylor Swift – while I was cleaning up my daughter’s room.