To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction

I will miss many things about Hawaii.

This mountain range.

The ocean, and especially this beach.

There are also a fair number of things I will not miss about Hawaii.

Such as this 5-inch centipede that was on the inside of our screen this morning. I noticed it an hour and a half after I opened the door; who knows how long it had been inside. I'm so grateful it didn't sting me when I opened the curtains, and I'm especially grateful Raid kills these buggers.

But I will especially not miss where the centipede was located.

Yup, right above the spot where Nadine plays every single day. All it had to do was drop on her, and she would've been in some serious pain. Eesh. I have the heebie jeebies.

Aloha.

I got all my sisters and me

My youngest sister graduated from high school on Wednesday, and I was able to fly out for a 10-day vacation and for the graduation.

We now have five of these sister graduation photos. They're some of my favorite photo ops. I need to track down the other ones and compare.

Being "home" showed me, again, how important relationships are with good family members (notice I say "good" family members; I do not believe you need to maintain a damaging relationship with someone just because he/she happens to be related to you).

I have been blessed with a wonderful family with whom I have fantastic relationships, and this is especially true with my sisters. They are some of my closest friends, and I miss them terribly. They are supportive, fun, wonderfully honest, independent, kind, accomplished, hilarious, righteous, and mind-blowingly intelligent. And beautiful.

Especially Ms. Valedictorian 2010.

I am so thankful we were sent to earth in family units, and that I was sent to a good one.

Family pictures

My friend took some amazing pictures while she was visiting us in Hawaii. You can see them here. We took them at the gorgeous beach near our house. I love how they turned out and can't wait to hang our Hawaii pictures in our Maryland house (we move June 25--it's coming so soon).

Thanks Jess!