Duty, Babysitting and KVs

Hello dear family! I hope everyone is doing well before this upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. I am looking forward to this Thursday. We are planning on having two couples over for dinner and games. I am especially thankful for this upcoming week because Daniel has the entire week off of work. It is part of his time off before the deployment. We are planning some quality time with friends as well as some time to finally Christmas shop together. I am quite excited.

This past week has flown by. Tuesday Daniel had work and then had duty that evening until the next morning. I wrote on the blog that Tuesday evening. Daniel got about 4 hours of sleep that night. He was fine Wednesday during the day until evening and the tiredness hit him hard.

Wednesday, I had my Protestant Women of the Chapel, PWOC, Bible Study and spent the afternoon cleaning the house. It is incredible how dusty the furniture and floor can get in four days! Wednesday evening we had the joy of babysitting for Phil and Amanda. They went to their Marine Corps Ball and needed some one to take care of their baby-girl Rhiannon. Well, we were delighted to help. We have babysat for Rhiannon once before but she is not away from her mother very often so sometimes it can be a challenge keeping her from bawling.

The evening with Rhiannon started well. I kept her entertained with some music and dancing until Daniel got home and I started making dinner. She seemed to like seeing Daniel come home in his camouflage utilities. It was familiar to her with her Daddy in the Marines too. She was great all through dinner and posed for us several times during dinner as I fed her.

So yes, she is quite a doll. Now you see why we don't mind taking care of her. Well, while I finished up the dishes in the kitchen, Daniel took her into the family room and played with her for a bit and the best picture of the night has both babes in it. ;)

Daniel looks tired in this picture and he has every right to be with no nap after 4 hours of sleep the night before. We took a walk around the neighborhood with the stroller and then we gave Rhiannon a bath and that was about the time that she realized her parents were not there and she decided to cry for the rest of the evening. I guess the bath was another reminder of her not being familiar with her surroundings. She was not happy during it or after. I rocked her for about another hour before I got her to finally fall asleep and as soon as she did, I was out too. Daniel had hit the sack soon after bath time.

All in all, it was a great evening with a precious child. It was a good reminder too of why we are waiting for children. We are not done being newly-weds yet. I was not able to spend the evening talking with him, we had to take care of baby girl. She is such a cutie though.

Thursday flew by with Daniel busy at work and he actually ended up staying later than he thought so we didn't have dinner together. I had a KV meeting at 7 so we didn't see each other until around 8:45.

The KV meeting went well, but some of the wives were pretty rowdy when sharing their opinions so it got a little saucy in there at times. It was not a problem, just a little too much talking at one time for my liking. I basically became the secretary for the meetings because I was the fastest note-taker with all the ideas flying around. We were trying to think of activities to keep the wives and families connected during the deployment. We are planning several social functions for January through June. It should be a good time of meeting and spending time with ladies of 1/3.

After the meeting I came home and tried to get Daniel to go to sleep. We had to wake up at 2:30 this morning because he had another hike this morning. This one was supposed to be 16 miles. YUCK! He just called and is staying at the office to finish up some work before his week off. Today is a day off for the whole battalion, but since he won't be there next week either he needs to get a few things wrapped up. I am sure he is smelling up the office as well as the other men who didn't come home to shower! HA He is always so sweaty after the hikes...

Well, tonight we are planning on going to the kareoke place downtown with some friends from work. It should be fun.

Have a wonderful weekend!

MC Ball and San Diego

Unfortunately I was not able to update sooner but we have had a lot going on since I last wrote.

Before I get into the busy second half of the week, I took a quick picture of Daniel mowing the lawn on Tuesday. Mowing the lawn is not usually picture-worthy, unless you live in Hawaii and the egrets chase you around while mowing to get the freshly uncovered bugs. At one point Daniel was having to shove 11 egrets out of the way to mow. They are not intimidated by the mower at all. It is really funny to watch.

Wednesday was a regular day for me with Bible Study and AWANA. It was Daniel's last full day of work that week so we were both getting ancy for the weekend.

Thursday, Daniel had work in the morning, came home, had lunch and then slept on the couch until we had to get ready for the Marine Corps Birthday Ball. He had a good sleeping buddy. She loves to sleep just like Daniel. When I took this picture, thankfully I only woke up one of them. Daniel slept for another hour. He was a tired man.

Thursday evening we headed to the Ilikai Hotel in Honolulu. The 1/3 Ball started around 6:30 so we got ourselves dolled up and headed downtown. We ended up running into a bit of traffic, which Honolulu is known for and made it there right on time. We were not the only ones to run into traffic so the whole evening was shifted until a later time. I am so thankful we live on the other side of the island with minimal traffic.

This is a picture of Daniel and I at our table. The flash is a little too bright and I couldn't figure out the photoshop way to darken the photo so it is going to be posted with the bright flash. Dinner was yummy and we sat next to Jerry and Michele. Jerry works with Daniel and Michele and I are KVs together. We had a good time at dinner and the ceremony following dinner. They cut the giant cake and there was an excellent guest speaker. The speaker has an outstanding life-story as Marine Colonel and he kept his speech short and sweet so it made everyone happy. Unfortunately the Dj was terrible so we did not end up dancing at all that evening. He played mostly heavy metal and rock songs that were near impossible to dance to. It was like we were getting ready for a pep rally or some big game. It didn't ruin the evening though.

We had lots of opportunities to meet up with people and take pictures. Here is one of Daniel with the Marines he works with. Jerry is on the far left and Daniel on the right, of course. (I am not going to name the others because I have not asked them personally if they want to be online. I don't want anyone to be upset about being on the web without their permission.)

Here is a picture of my fellow KVs in 1/3. It took Michele and I quite some time rounding up the ladies for this picture. I am on the top row and Michele is to the right in the picture, in the navy dress. We have a large group of KV for a Battalion. We are lucky to have so many ladies interested in the volunteer position. It makes it easier for all of us that we have so many people. Everyone looked lovely.

The funniest thing of the night was the fact that I only saw one person with my dress on and she happened to be sitting at the exact same table as Daniel and I. We both laughed about it. I figured I would see someone with it on because I bought the dress at Macy's, but I did not think she would be at the same table! It was funny!

Here is another picture of us before I move on from Thursday evening.

Friday, our friends Fred and Jen took us to the airport in the morning. We flew for 5 hours and landed in San Diego on Friday evening with plenty of time to hang out before the wedding on Sunday. We rented an economy size car but ended upgrading to a Saturn Vue(woohoo) because there was a great discount with the airline we had flown on. It turned out being a great decision. We hauled people around all weekend. We spent most of the first evening getting our bearings driving around San Diego. It really is a neat city. I enjoyed just looking at it through the car window, but the next few days made me love it even more.

Saturday we ended up driving around more to familiarize ourselves so we wouldn't get lost when we were in a hurry. The harbor was so beautiful. i ended up taking so many pictures. Here is one that turned out great.
We drove to pick up a friend of Daniel's from Okinawa, Bonnie from the airport, and the bride, also a friend from Okinawa, was there to pick up Bonnie as well. We ended up driving to Mandy's (the bride) parent's condo they had rented and met friends and family on the bride's side. It was nice to meet people before the wedding day on Sunday. We left around lunch time and hit a restaurant Daniel had been telling me about, Santana's. They had excellent burritos.

That afternoon we drove down on the harbor and walked around a little then decided to hit my favorite store that Oahu does not have...TARGET! I can't tell you how happy I was to go shopping. We had one last gift-card to Target remaining from our wedding gifts and it had to be used. I was so excited I had Daniel take a picture of me after we went shopping.

We drove over to Coronado Island, took several more pictures and ended up spending the afternoon and evening walking around the Navy base and the historic section of the island. We had a wonderful time window shopping and walking around even though it was chilly. Cold for me is now anywhere in the 50s. I have gotten used to warm island weather and it was crazy having goose-bumps after five months of perfect weather. I didn't pack warm enough for the evenings so I was clinging to Daniel to stay warm when we walked.

Sunday morning we woke up at 4:30 to drive north 2.5 hours to go to Grace Community Church, the church Daniel's family attended when they lived in California. We got there a little early and we ended up driving by Daniel's old house and seeing his elementary school. I enjoyed Daniel's stories of growing up there for three years before returning to Missouri. We were able to see two couples Daniel and his family knew and it was great meeting them both.

After church we drove back down south to go to the main reason we were in California, Dan and Mandy's wedding. The wedding was held at this Conference Center right on the harbor. It was a lovely setting with perfect weather to compliment the day. Of course the bride and groom were so beautiful and handsome. Here they are after the pronouncement. Daniel got to know both of them very well in Okinawa. They were both so glad we were able to make it out to the wedding. It was such a joy meeting them both. I loved getting to see the people that Daniel grew so close to in the year he lived in Japan.

At the reception, we sat with Kevin and Becca, another couple Daniel got to know in Okinawa. Here is a picture of the Okinawa group, minus the groom. He was busy at that moment. From the left, Daniel, Bonnie, Mandy, Becca and Kevin. We had a such a good time. It felt like I had know these people as long as Daniel had and it was like instant friendship.

During the wedding reception, we ran to the airport, picked up another friend, John, from Oki and brought him back to the wedding just in time to say goodbye to the newly-weds. His flight had been delayed several times and he wasn't able to make any of the wedding. He had gotten very close with Daniel in Oki and it was so much fun to hear stories of their year there.

Here we are, finally getting some dancing in after a long time without dancing together...

We shuttled Bonnie, John, Kevin and Becca around after the wedding and ended up hanging out at Denny's until midnight. It was so much fun just sharing stories and sharing some life with everyone. I was delighted to spend the time with them.

Monday morning we flew out early and we were zombies the entire trip back. After the past three nights of minimal sleep and then flying on a plane for several hours, we were about to crash. Jen picked us up at the airport and we came home and slept.

Daniel returned to work today and he is on duty this evening. That is why I am typing up this incredibly long blog right now instead of during the day when he is gone. Amaya is going to come over in just a few minutes to hang out for a bit. She has had a long day and she just wants to hang out for a while.

I better close this for the evening. Thanks for reading this long update. Love to Everyone!

End of South Pacific

Well, here I am only after a few days. I just wanted to wrap up the South Pacific entries. We ended the show with a tearful afternoon. I was not planning on crying but the events led to it.

The show went well. People were hamming it up of course because it was the last time. All in all it was a lot of fun, but every show was a good amount of fun. After we did the normal cast call though the assistant director got a microphone and recognized all the "behind-the-scenes" people. They gave everyone leis and they gave me a bouquet of roses. That's when the tears started. When he called the director up, Mr. Bright proceeded to thank everyone then turned around and started talking about me in front of the whole audience! He then brought Daniel up to the stage and started talking about him. Of course I was crying more. They gave Daniel a lei as well and talked about him being the "real" military and how we all needed to keep him and his fellow military men in our prayers. Daniel had been helping sell t-shirts in the lobby so he had to be pulled in from the lobby. He was just as surprised as I was.

By the time the curtain actually came down everyone was on stage with lots of flowers. I have never been a part of a theatre that appreciated all the work it took to put the show on as this theatre did. The orchestra and even the spotlighters were brought out and thanked. It was so encouraging and really great to be a part of.

I am thankful it is over(it was along run), but it was the best thing I could have done to meet wonderful people and sing at the same time. I met so many local actors, musicians, and just super talented people. I look forward to doing another show and hopefully with some of the same people.

These are just a few pics from backstage. You can see Daniel in the center picture. He is in the very back in the green polo. Thats my man!

After the show there was a lot of cleaning up to do. We cleaned backstage, started taking apart sets, put costumes away and organized the food everyone brought for the potluck. (We brought Pinkies. They are a hit with the entire cast and I brought them a few weeks into the performances and everyone wanted them again.) The last cast party was bittersweet. I know I won't see some of the people I spent so much time for a while, but I going to make an effort to see most of them. We already have some things planned for later in November.

I just had to show this metal vintage poster I found for Daniel. It is so fitting because the mountain in the background is Diamond Head, here on Oahu. It looks like the lady is on Waikiki beach. I just loved it and it looks good in our computer room with his Marine stuff.

Well, I am going to head out and run a few errands. We are running low on milk and that just can't happen in this household. We drink too much milk! ;)

Love Ya'll!

Entirely Too Long

I have been neglecting the blog for quite some time. I apologize for not updating more frequently especially with so many things happening. It has been two weeks since I last updated.

Daniel is home safe. He got back from California on Tuesday the 25th around 10:30. The next few days were busy for him because he was in one of the first groups sent back here. He was driving back and forth from the airport making sure all the other men got back and organized. I did not see much of him in those first few days home. Fortunately, on Wednesday evening Lauren, Kris, Daniel and I were able to go out to eat at a local restaurant. I was very happy to finally have him home and to spend time the four of us not just L&K and I.

We didn't get a picture of all four of us in front of the restau but here is one of L and I posing being silly.

For all the details of L&K's visit, check out Lauren's blog. She did a very thorough job of documenting what we did and it would take entirely too long for me to do the same on here.
http://www.lollygirl.com/blog We had a great time!

They left on Friday the 28th and I wasn't able to see them off at the airport. I was already full swing into my fourth weekend of the show. Daniel was able to take them to the airport and surprise me by showing up backstage to watch the rest of the show. Everyone was happy to see him and meet him if they weren't able to before he left. The director, Mr. B, has been so kind to us. He is very supportive of Daniel in everything he does as a Marine and he just loves talking with him. He told us that Daniel would never have to pay for a ticket. Daniel was getting special treatment, which he deserved, but we didn't want to look like we felt we deserved it at all. Daniel paid for a ticket one night, Saturday, but he still wanted to come to every other performance. I have been keeping an ear open and no one seems to think he shouldn't be getting in for free. No one else has a family member that has come every night so I guess they see that it would really add up if he had to pay every night.

After the matinee on Sunday, the director's wife threw a cast party. It was a great afternoon to just relax after the long weekend and for people to get to know Daniel. After eating and chatting people joined around the piano and just started singing whatever they knew. It was a really relaxed and fun environment. I am so happy to have gotten to know these folks. Good People!

Thankfully, Monday and Tuesday Daniel had off of work. They were excellent days for Daniel to catch up on his sleep. (One night the week before, he came home at 4am.) We did yard work on Monday and then had a fun Halloween evening with guests. Josh, Everett's old USNA roommate was in town for a couple weeks so we had him over for dinner as well as Amanda, a friend of mine. Amanda's husband is out of town for some training so we had her and her daughter come over to have dinner and pass out candy. Rhiannon is the little girl. She is ten months old and so much fun. Amanda has her in a pumpkin suit. Daniel took this picture and unfortunately it didn't show the entire outfit. It was too cute!

Amanda left around 8:30 or so and Josh stayed later. It was really good to spend some time with him. We sat around and chatted, looked at some pictures from the Academy days and basically had a great evening.

Tuesday we went to a promotion ceremony/party. It was a very quick process. The ceremony was on his back porch and while the promotion was read the Marines stood at attention. It only lasted about 5 minutes and the rest of the afternoon was spent telling stories, joking, and just relaxing. It was a good opportunity for me to meet some of the men Daniel works with learn more about Marine life.

Wednesday morning Daniel returned to work. He was busy with a court marshall that he was assigned to. I went to a new Bible Study. My friend Jen mentioned this study and I thought it was a great idea, not only was it an excellent study but I also have the opportunity to meet more Christ-following military wives. The study meets at the base chapel, about 2 minutes from our house, and it is another Beth Moore study. I have been learning so much from my Monday night Beth Moore study, I couldn't say no to another one. As soon as I went in the ladies introduced themselves and made me feel comfortable. I do not usually have a hard time talking with new people but it is nice to feel the warmth from them first. I look forward to several more weeks with these ladies.

Wednesday afternoon I returned to my AWANA duties. I had missed the kids from the week before. I didn't make the week before due to L&K's visit. When I got back I had to catch up on all the kids had done. I am assigned three boys. They are all as different as kids can be. One of the boys is an ace at memorization. He usually does 3 to 5 sections a week, which means memorizing that many verses or more and doing activities as well. He is very disciplined with his books. Part of that probably comes from his family, he is the son of a Marine Captain. One of my other boys is a Hawaiian boy who usually does a section a week. He is quiet, patient and very sweet. I just learned this week that he is still learning to read English. He is 7 but was raised reading Hawaiian. One section a week is great for a new English reader. The last of my assigned boys is so funny. His favorite thing to say is "...excuse me..." and he continues to interrupt me while I am talking to him. He usually forgets which section he has to work on and he flips ahead in his book and works on what looks fun. I write little notes each week to his parents to encourage him to stay on track. He is a kind boy, dedicated but just distracted. He has it in him to do well, he just gets worked up. I enjoy working with each of them. I usually have other kids as well though whenever another leader is not able to make it. I have gotten to know quite a few kids. I am also the new song-leader. Apparently when the old leader found out I sang, she volunteered me for the job. I don't' mind at all. I just had to review all the old songs. I just love working with AWANA.

This is our last weekend of the show and I am happy about it. It has been a great run, but a month is a long time and I am ready for a change. We have some friend's coming to the show tonight so it will be fun to meet up with them afterward. Here is a picture of us for the curtain call. It shows some of the awesome scenery and sets for the show, but it mostly shows the giant cast. (I am wearing the white nurse uniform on the front row.)

Daniel is working on the Acrua today at the DIY auto-shop. He is taking longer than I thought he would and I wish he could come home already. :-(

We go to San Diego next weekend after the Marine Corp Birthday Ball on Thursday night. Daniel has two friends from Japan getting married and we are excited to go out there for the wedding. Daniel has Thursday off work so it will be another short work week for him. I am getting excited about the ball. I finally found a dress I like for a good price. Daniel likes it and that is all that really mattered anyways.

I am going to end this incredibly long entry and I hope it will not be another 2 weeks before I write again. Blessings!