This Moment — a Friday ritual. A single photo, no words, capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor, and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

This is one of the few times you will ever hear me complain about living in Hawaii so please don’t take me for being a spoiled brat! With that said, F%$^ all these palm trees!

Yes, they are beautiful. They are the iconic picture of Hawaii–a gentle breeze causing the lazy palms to dance and sway in the wind, the way they glitter in the moonlight and make those pictures you took at sunset worth framing.

I know all of this. I love all of this. But what YOU don’t know about these gorgeous trees, or maybe fail to give much thought to, are the loaded canon balls that ever so often fall causing death (yes DEATH) and destruction to any and all that are so foolishly below. Well, call me a fool but i’ve been parking under one of these ticking time bombs for about a year now and my luck has apparently run out.

It might not look like a lot from the pictures, but the auto body shop estimates the damage to be somewhere around $1,500 bucks! Not what anyone wants to hear and definitely not good news to two first time expecting parents! Luckily (? we’ll see how it all plays out), the coconut fell from a tree planted on the grounds of the hotel in front of our building and their insurance should take care of the damages. It’s been almost two weeks (wow– I’m just now realizing that it’s been TWO freaking weeks already) and we have yet to hear form their insurance adjustor…hmm maybe I should head over there AGAIN and see what is up.

Ok, my rant is over. Hawaii is a beautiful place and I try not to let myself take any of it for granted. Luckily it was just the car that took the blow and we are all safe and sound, heading out to enjoy some surf and hopefully a picturesque sunset, backlit palm trees and all.

Let this be a reminder: Never stand under a palm tree, don’t picnic under them, nap under them and apparently don’t park under them either!

The old wives say that if a pregnant woman experiences heartburn throughout the entire nine months of pregnancy, the baby will be born with a full head of hair.

According to friends of mine, this little tale might have some truth to it and if they are right, I am going to have one hairy little baby! My husband was born with a full noggin of hair and has kept his gorgeous locks, fingers crossed our little man inherits his cute little curly surfer style even if it means mama has to suffer.

Blame it on the hormones but lately I’ve noticed myself stopping to “ohh” and “aww” over just about anything and everything. Remember that time we took a walk on the beach, remember how you used to hate guacamole and now you’ll eat an avocado whole, remember this… remember that? My poor husband must be going crazy with all the sentiment lately!

Take for instance this path up on the North Shore:

Just thought I would let you all know that I am in avocado heaven. Remember these? I’ve literally feasted on these deliciously ripe avocados two meals a day for the past few days and my tummy couldn’t be happier. My favorite recipe, prepared by my awesome sister- in- law and her husband was so delicious that I have to share it with you all (they scored this recipe from www.fresh365online.com a great online resource of vegetarian recipes):

Mango-Avocado Salad with Black Beans and Lime Vinaigrette
adapted from Whole Foods . serves 4
2 ripe avocados, peeled and cut into 1/2″ cubes
3 T lime juice
1 ripe mango, peeled and cut into 1/2″ cubes
1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
1 t grated lime zest
1/2 t salt
1/4 t sugar (or agave nectar)
2 T chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish
4 T olive oil
1 15.5-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
black pepper, to taste
*In a medium bowl, toss mango and jalapeño with 1 T lime juice and salt. Add avocado and gently toss to combine. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining lime juice, zest, sugar, cilantro and oil. Toss the black beans with the vinaigrette. To assemble, spoon the black beans with vinaigrette into the center of a serving platter. Top with the mango-avocado mixture. Garnish with chopped cilantro and black pepper.

This Moment- A Friday ritual. A single photo- no words- capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor, and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.