Date Night - Dinner (Ramen Ya) and a Movie

Hubby and I are very lucky that both of our parents live near us, just in case we have to go somewhere without Jacob, and when Hubby asked if I wanted to go out last night, I jumped at the chance!  In fact, Jacob ended up sleeping over at his grandparents' house last night.  I know of some kids who can't sleep over anywhere if their parents aren't with them, but Jacob is independent, so we're pretty lucky. He's been sleeping over at his grandparents' houses every once in a while since he was 1 years old.

So... date night. The night started off with a trip to Ramen Ya at the mall. (Kaahumanu Shopping Center)  While it's not the fanciest of places and is always crowded, the food is tasty and the menu prices are AWESOME. Plus, there's always parking because it's at the main mall on Maui.

I got the Combo A, which included a small order of Shoyu Ramen, fried rice, and 4 pieces of gyoza (pot stickers).  Hubby got the Combo B, which was a small order of Won Ton Min, chicken katsu curry, and 4 pieces of gyoza.  Both combos were a steal, only $9.50, and the portions were huge humongous!  (Sorry, there aren't any pictures of Hubby's combo because he started digging in before I could get out my camera.)  

I truly recommend this restaurant if you're looking for a quick, cheap place to eat.

Next, we decided to see "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" at the mall's theatre, Consolidated Theaters.  First, I would like begin by saying Hubby and I don't get to go out to watch movies that often because we have a very active child who wouldn't sit still in a movie if our life depended on it... and because we don't get out much, I don't know what the prices are like in other cities, but did you see the prices in my picture above?  $10 to watch a movie, and that's just one person! Then, Hubby said he couldn't go to a movie and not get anything, so we shared this:

One small water bottle and a small ice cream cup... drum roll please... $8.50! So while we saved money on dinner, the movie cost us a total of $28.50. Sheesh.  And to make things worse, Hubby fell asleep in the movie! (The Hobbit didn't up being his favorite movie, I guess. Ha.)  For $10, I should have woken him up! (I will leave a review of the movie up to the critics, but let's just say it wasn't our favorite.)

In any case, despite the cost associated with the movie, I had a nice night.

While we missed this goofball...

I also think it's important for us as a couple to  spend time with each other, alone.  When Jacob is around, we focus entirely on him, so we don't necessarily get to have sophisticated conversations.... mostly about animals and mac 'n cheese.  Plus, Jacob gets to spend time with his grandparents. It's win-win. Thank you grandparents (both paternal and maternal) for being there for our family!

A Maui Mommy Blog Redesign

When I turned on my computer at 9:30 pm, I did not have it in my head that I was going to redesign my blog at that very moment.  However, I attended a social media conference today, which must have energized me to do it, because it's 1:30 am and I've finally completed the new re-design of A Maui Mommy!   It was getting a little embarrassing having pictures of Jacob when he was just 6 months old.  Speaking of "Jacob"...

One thing that you will notice as I'm posting new things:  I've decided to "re-name" us.  I know you're thinking, what the heck are you talking about? You can't just re-name people.  Well... too bad. I just did!  "BJ", which stood for Baby Jacob, will now be referred to as Jacob.  "HJ", which stood for Hubby Josh, will now be referred to as Hubby.  I originally nicknamed them BJ and HJ because I thought it would be easier when I typed, but I realized it was just confusing.  Plus, we don't call Jacob, "BJ", in real life, so I felt like I was lying to all of my readers. So..... I'm not lying anymore. His name is Jacob! haha.

Okay I think it's time for me to go to bed now... I'm looking forward to blogging more now that I don't have to feel so bad about the baby pictures.

Aloha and Mahalo,

Tracy

New Year's Resolutions

This post is long overdue, but I need to write this on blogger because it will hold me accountable for my actions.  I've been doing well on all of my New Year's resolutions, except for one. Blogging!  Haha.  Soooo... here are my New Year Resolutions.

1.  Blogging 

Okay I had been doing so much better towards the last part of 2012... and then life got to me. I'm going to get back to blogging again because I miss writing about BJ. In fact, my goal is to re-do my entire blog because these pictures of BJ are so old. Haha. He's almost 3 but you can't tell looking at my blog design. Woops.

2. Log My Calories Daily and Eat One Serving Per Meal

As you probably know from a previous post, I was pregnant about a month ago, and I had gained about 10 pounds from that pregnancy.  However, I didn't want to just put "Lose Weight" as my resolution, because that's not my real intention.  HJ and I decided we would like to live a healthier lifestyle, and make it a lifelong commitment, especially for BJ's sake, so we decided that only eating one serving per meal is a start. If this resolution helps me lose weight, then so be it.  And you know what?  It's been working. With keeping track of my calories and eating only one serving, I've already lost 7 pounds.  I have to keep going, though.

3.   Be Better About Chores at Home

Let's face it:  We all have our lazy days.  Well, those of us that are human anyways.  For me, I had more lazy days than productive days when it came to house chores, mostly because I had a difficult time balancing work and home.  This year, I would like to stay on top of my household chores so I don't feel overwhelmed and it doesn't look like a bomb went off in our house. My goals to help with this were to do at least one load of laundry daily, make sure the dishes are washed at night, and pack my home lunch at night.  It has been so much easier when trying to leave the house in the morning, and I've been happier with myself overall.



These are my three goals for the year.  I'm sure I'll have more as the year goes on, but I figured that I have to start somewhere.  I hope to continue these things so that I can be a better wife, mom, and person.  Wish me luck! :-)