Two nights left...

Well, we have a house on base. Daniel and I went in Monday morning to the housing office and denied the first offer given to us on base. There were several reasons why we turned it down and it appears to have been the right thing to do. We were immediately offered another home with more space and a better location. It is a sweet three bedroom home with two baths, a large living area and plenty of storage for all of our things. The best thing about it is, it is ready to move into. Daniel meets with the maintenance man today to go over all the details of the home and we get the keys afterward. We can start moving our stuff in this afternoon. Daniel scheduled the movers to come to our apartment on Friday so we only have two more nights left in this apartment.

I can't believe this is all happening so quickly. I am thankful though because I would have to do it alone if we had to move in a few weeks. I am just in awe of how things move around here with the military.

We are currently trying to find someone to rent the apartment. Our landlady says she has never had a problem renting out the places here. The apartments are so nice and people are always in need of a place to live in this housing market. Daniel went to the Lodge on base last night, where the new families moving to HI stay temporarily, and told several people about the apartment. It was his proactive way of not having to pay the rest of September's rent. We hope to find someone to move in quickly. With military life it is very likely we will find someone who needs a home now.

I am headed out the door to Key Volunteer training. This is my second day of training. Key Volunteers, or KVs, is a program that spouses of military workers volunteer for to be the main communication between the command and the spouses of the military people. Basically, during deployment and other times I call people to let them know the real information about their husbands and families rather than always having to watch the biased news. I also have the opportunity to point women in direction of help with knowledge of all the Corps family programs. I am training to know as much as I can about base so I can be a source of info for other ladies. I know I wish I had met a KV when we first moved here to help with the transition process. I hope to be of help to new wives and families new to the island.

I am excited about this opportunity. It is right up my alley. I love meeting new people!

I will write more about our home transition and I will update when we are in. For now I leave you with the lousy pics I took of the home. I should have tried to get the car out of the pic but I was hot and hungry. I took this before lunch...

Here is Daniel getting ready to measure, or at least looking like he is...











Here is a shot of the backyard. I can't tell you how happy I am to have a yard. I didn't think I would miss it that much but I am looking forward to watering it and maybe even planting a small garden. My parents have such green thumbs I need to live up to that.

I hope to post more pictures later. Love ya'll and have a wonderful Labor Day Weekend!

Early Morning

Daniel went on a 12 mile hump this morning with his battalion. We woke up at 2:30am after going to bed at 10:30...too late. He got his gear on and here he is heading out the door. While I was at rehearsal last night he organized everything so he didn't have to do it this morning. I made a big breakfast for him so he wouldn't get too hungry. It worked well. He only needed one energy bar. That was my small victory of the morning...

He got back to the apartment around 9am. He came in one sweaty heap. He immediately asked for the scale to see how much he was carrying on his back. The gear weighed about 70 pounds. I can't imagine hiking up hills and walking in sand for 12 miles with that weight. He did it though! He even felt good about it. He never fell back. I am quite proud. He is resting now before he has to go back to work.

We are contemplating moving on base. We found out today we have an offer for a home on base so we drove over and looked at it after Daniel got back this morning. (He wanted to go...I wanted him to rest.) It is a very sweet two-bedroom home with a beautiful yard and good sized rooms. We are still thinking about it. It is a big decision and if we make it soon enough, we can move in next week. It is a very quick process. The housing people want to get people in and out quickly.

There are many pros to living on base, yet our apartment now is very nice. We are getting adjusted to it still and it would be a big transition to move again. Please keep us in your prayers about this decision.

I am going to go wake up the sleeping hubby and send him off to work tired. I wish he could sleep longer, but he will get his rest tonight.

Love Ya'll!

My baby sister is at college...

Sarah had her first day of college classes today. I can't believe she is at school. I know she is a very mature and capable lady and she will flourish in the college environment, but I just can't imagine her at college. She is studying at Campbell University in North Carolina. From what I hear it is a great school and she is already raving about how perfect it is for her. Mom and Dad seem to like it too. I look forward to the day when I can visit her at school and see how she is growing into a wonderful young adult. Life changes so much during college, sister. Take your time and enjoy it!

Here she is looking about 25 years old. Don't take advantage of how old you look, missy! :)

Things are going great here in Kaneohe. Daniel is keeping very busy with work. Almost every day is packed with meetings and all kinds of planning for upcoming excerises. He is leaving in September for an exercise in California and should be back for the last few days of Lauren and Kris' visit here to HI. I know that month and half will be rough, but it is only a short time before he leaves again. Hopefully that time will fly by.

The end of Katy's visit was wonderful. We finished the week with a luau and then Daniel took Katy surfing on Saturday before she flew out that night. Unfortunatly I was in rehearsal most od the day so I missed most of the fun. The waves were rough and I didn't even want to swim in them by the time I met up with KT and Daniel. They were giving it their all... I think they had fun too, and we wore Katy out on her last day here. She did get some sleep on the plane though.

That can be our promise to everyone if they visit. We will wear you out and you will sleep well on the plane ride home... :)

I just got back from rehearsal for South Pacific and I am only starting to realize the magnitude of work I have to put into it. I met with the choreographer today and the dancers for the musical. I felt like such a beginner dancer around them, which I am, but by the end of the practice I felt better. I was getting most of the steps. I was thankful for my last semester class of ballet because the instructor was using all the dance terms so quickly it was good that I was fairly familiar. Tonights rehearsal was mostly singing and stage blocking (movement) so it went smoothly. I just have to work on memorizing my lines now. I might need Daniel to help me. He will have it memorized by the end too. He has such a good memory.

I will write more later but I leave you with some fun pictures from the luau. They had crafts games before the actual food was served or the hula dancers started dancing. Here is Daniel after he threw a native Hawaiian hunting spear.


Here is Katy making a braided anklet with fresh plumeria. It looked really nice on but she wouldn't let me take any pictures of her alone so I do not have her modeling it for me.











Here is a great shot of the sunset. Katy snapped this as they were pulling the pig out of the ground. At luaus they roast a whole pig underground in a hole filled with heated rocks, and burning coconut and ti leaves. When they pulled the pig out it looked disgusting, but it tasted wonderful. I know we did not eat the same pig we watched being pulled out of the ground but it was cooked the same way. It was yummy!

Katy got a little burnt from her days in the sun. She looks so tan. I was in the sun just as much yet I am still white Maryn...ah well. At least no sunburn in this photo.

Hope you all have a wonderful rest of the week! Aloha!

Eventful Week

Katy's visit has been wonderful. We were both just commenting on how slowly the time has been passing and we are both thankful for it. The island weather has been wonderful and we just got back from Katy jumping out of an airplane at 14000 ft. Yes, she is a crazy one and now I want to go and do it too. I wanted to go but I knew I would be terribly nervous in the small plane on the way up there. I think I am going to hold out for a time when Daniel and I can both go.

It was an hour and a half by the time we drove up and were driving away from the skydiving center. It went by very quickly. I got some great pics of Katy. Here she is strapped up and here she is in the air...

Yep, she is a brave one indeed. I can't believe I want to go now. She says it is an amazing feeling and she only had a few motion sickness problems once we got in the car. She is doing great now and it is just an hour and 20 minutes after she landed.

We have been keeping ourselves busy. Yesterday we hung out in the morning and hit a beautiful beach in the afternoon. It is on the top 5 beaches of Oahu and it is 10 minutes away from Daniel and my apartment.

Tomorrow we hit an awesome flea market and Pearl Harbor. A friend from my high school called me up as we were driving back from the skydiving place and she is on the island visiting a friend who just had knee surgery. Eva, the wonderful last-minute saber-barer for Daniel and my wedding, just graduated from USNA and is taking leave to visit her friend and Oahu. I am so excited about seeing her and spending the day with the ladies. It will be a great day! Oh I will take pics. :-)

I made the musical. I got the role of Ensign Nellie Forbush. Unfortunatly the rehearsals start tonight and are all this week while Katy is visiting. I figure if we pack our days full of activity she will be tired by the end of the day and just want to chill anyways. I have my first rehearsal tonight at 6:30. I am excited. It will keep me nice and busy while Daniel is away on an exercise during September and October.

Speaking of, it looks like my man is going to be deployed again in the beginning of the year. He is happy. He will be with most of the guys he went to Iraq with. He is glad to be able to go when he decides to go as opposed to be augmented without really having much decision. I am happy he is happy and I want to make the most out of the next few months. It looks like we are going to with my sister and her husband coming out in October and then Mom and Dad Good coming out in December. Woohoo house guests!

Here are a couple pics of our adventures so far. We have been busy, like I said. We hit the Dole Plantation on Friday, snorkeling in a volcano crater on Saturday and Sunday visiting a sandbar on boat in the Kaneohe Bay.

Dole Plantation from the train tour!

Daniel and Marc pulling the boat in further to the sandbar. We were in the middle of the bay and the water is so much fun to snorkel in.

We went with 3 couples and the boat was full. It was a great day and the evening cooled off when we were on the boat so it was really nice.

Well enough about the water.

I am going to make some lunch and rest for a bit. It was an early morning. Thanks for reading!

KATY IS HERE!!

We are going snorkeling today and yesterday we went to the Dole plantation and Sunset beach. I will post pictures and other info when we have a little more free time.

Katy got here safely and the week is going to be great.

I made the musical. I don't know what role it is but I will find out tomorrow at the first meeting. I will write more about that later.

Take Care!

Our house is becoming a home...

Hello dear friends and family. I have not written in a while. I do apologize for not getting back about Daniel's week on the range.

His rifle qualifications did not go as well as he would have liked. He ended up getting marksmen. It was a terribly windy day and he had little sleep. I think I put too much sunscreen on his head too, he said it was dripping in his eyes. Of course he won't complain about all these factors but I know it made it a lot more difficult in the long-run. I am still proud of him. He shot well all week long and had a rough day on the qual day for rifle only...

Here are some pics of the apartment. It is still cluttery and I did not take pics of everything. We are still organizing the odds and ends and we need one more bookcase because with Daniel's and I load of books, two is not enogh. Here is our room from the hallway. Yes it looks cluttered...I said that already. We are so thankful for the ability to sit and chat in these little chairs. I like the way the couch separates the room so we can have the comp and tv on one side and the table and chairs on the other.

Here is the other angle from the window. It makes the room feel bigger I think to have the separation with the little walk way...anyways. We thought we would add some Hawaiian flavor with the pineapple and coconut tree pillows. Couldn't help ourselves. We are still in the process of finding where to hang some of our bigger things for the wall. We plan on having a place on the wall for some wedding pics once we get them back. I am still organizing the other photos.

Here is a quick pic of our guest bathroom. We are so thankful to have two bathrooms as well. It makes it even easier to have people stay with us. *Hint Hint* We like the sunny yellow in there especially with the sun coming in the window behind the tub...

These two pics are of our bedroom. We are still looking for some shams we like and the dresser tops are cluttered with my make-up and jewelry. I meant to clean it up for the pics but didn't... The big window lets in a lot of good reading light. It has been nice since I have read about 10 books since we got here.

The last picture is of the bed in the guest room. That right now is the only thing picture presentable. Basically the rest is books Daniel doesn't want to get rid of from college :) and lot of typical desk organization stuff. You will just have to come and visit for the full image.

We found this cool comforter at Macy's on sale. Yes, I love that store! It is pretty much the only department store on the island. Anyways it has details like a lot of Azeri and Iranian fabrics I saw in Azerbaijan. Now Katy is going to be sleeping in it tomorrow night...We will see what she thinks of it since she just got back from Azerbaijan. I am so stoked about her visit!

Everything around here has been going well. We are still waiting and figuring out what Daniel is going to be doing within the next year, whether he will be deployed again soon or what. Patience is a huge lesson for us both. Daniel already has it...I am working on it.

Last night I auditioned for a local community theatre's production of South Pacific. The audition went well. The only problem I had really was the dance steps...I kept trying to make them more complicated and in doing so I was tripping over my own feet. I think by the time I had to do it the for the director I had it down. I could laugh at myself the whole time though. It was a lot of fun. I haven't done a musical since high school. It was funny. Lots of memories come flooding back when you have to sing, read and dance for a group of strangers. It was nice though because Daniel wanted to come to the whole audition porcess. The good guy he is, I was able to sing to him and laugh at his goofy faces and gestures whenever I messed up. He kept doing this guy from the movie Napolean Dynamite. It made me laugh so hard on stage...

Anyways they asked me to stay after and sing a couple of lines from a song in the musical so it is looking hopeful I may get a part. It would be nice to do this show because the play starts when Daniel is gone for some training in California. That way I won't be dwelling so much on his absence. I will be staying busy. I will find out either late tonight or tomorrow morning if I got the part. Oh yeah, I was trying out for Nellie, the lead nurse.

Well, I am going to run some errands. My good friend from high school is getting married this Saturday and I need to get busy. It is really strange when people around you get married. Now I know what all my college buddies felt like when I was going through the planning and wedding. It is the time of your life you always dream about up until the day the marriage starts. Not only the wedding day but spending the rest of your life with someone you love. It is a good thing. Daniel and I are loving it!

Blessings!

I almost forgot...

Daniel had quals for his pistol shooting today and again came out an expert, the best possibility. The range for expert is 345 to the best 400 points and Daniel was in at 360, a clear expert! He has qualifications for rifle tomorrow. I am hoping he gets enough sleep when he is not on duty to do his best tomorrow. I am already so proud...

G'night

Wednesday Evenin

Household items are here and I am not posting pictures yet because it is taking me longer than I realized it would to get the house in picture condition. Thankfully, the day of the delivery we got all of the boxes out of the apartment. We are still working on the stacks of things right now. The largest pile seems to be of our photo albums and pictures without homes yet. We have several frames to make the homes but not enough space to put pictures on flat surfaces...ah well

We have all of our furniture in the places we want it to be and I am so grateful for the wonderful lamps, furniture and all other household goodies we acquired at the wedding and after. Thank you family and friends for your gracious gifts!

The first day of unpacking it took me hours to get the kitchen in order and I enjoyed every moment of it. I loved washing all the mixing bowls, strainers, pans, and gadgets. I am so thankful for those items as well. I later moved to the bedroom where I had stacks of clothing to hang in the closet and put away in our dressers. Things are coming together and our home apartment is becoming a home. We are both very happy about it...

Daniel is on duty tonight so I have been reading my latest novel for the past few hours to make the time go by quickly. I am not fond of the evenings without him. I do know it is all part of the job though. It is unfortunate that he is on duty tonight though because he is covering for a guy that gave no good reason for needing coverage and he did not promise to take one of Daniel's duty shifts... So this makes me a little frustrated...I need to handle these kinds of things better. I am still new to it though. It will take time.

Having the car has been nice though. I have enjoyed being able to get away from the apartment especially since they have been doing work on the pavement right outside our window for the past 3 weeks and the pounding and shaking was driving me a little bonkers. It makes the whole apartment shake and a trip to the exchange or commissary sounds like a wonderful way to escape the headache...

This may sound like a negative entry...sorry. I am not an unhappy person, just wishing Daniel was here tonight. I am obviously not ready for him to be away on deployment yet and I thank the Lord every day we are able to have this time together before he does have to leave.

I am getting ready for Katy's visit this next Thursday. I can't believe it is in a week! The one room we have ready is the guest room. We even bought a beautiful new quilt and sheets for the bed. Daniel and I hung up some pictures and important things(diploma from USNA, deployment plaques and other goodies) on the wall the other night making it feel even more homey. We are both excited about her visit.

Ah yes...We are both licensed to...boat! Last Saturday we dragged ourselves out of bed at the crack-of-dawn to the marina on base and much to our surprise we both got our multi-passenger boat license AND speed-boat license. We can basically take people water-skiing and out to the amazing sandbar in the Kaneohe Bay. It was a beautiful morning for the class and we had a native instructor for one of the classes that shared all kinds of neat facts about the island and the bay. It was great just hearing his stories.

Well I am hooked on this book and I am going to get back to it. I will post pics of the apartment later but for now I leave you with one of my favorite plants here... the beautiful bouganvilla.

We were driving by this house the other day and I just had to stop and take a quick picture. The plant was just overflowing with blossoms and it needed to have a picture of it taken. The neat thing about the blossoms is they are paper thin. They blow in the wind like tissue paper floating on the breeze.

Love ya'll!