Daniel Update, Birthdays, Dinners, and Project Spectrum

Family and Friends, here is the latest on Daniel. He stays very busy. He is healthy and in good spirits. He has been able to email with a little more frequency, so that makes me very happy. He can access the blog, so he may be able to post some pictures up on it soon. You all will know as soon as I do if he does. He has not gotten any snail mail yet because the weather has not allowed for any helicopters to come in. There is no certain amount of days for the mail to get to him. He will hopefully get the first delivery to him this Saturday. If he can't post any pictures, but sends them to me instead, you can guarantee I will post them.

Well, after my parents left on Thursday the activity level did not slow right away. I had Amaya, Jo and her sons over for dinner and a movie on Friday. We didn't end up watching a full movie because the ladies were getting colds and the boys were getting restless with Daniel's and I's house. :) No game systems and no TV channels...pretty boring, except for Meli. They all left pretty early and I spent the rest of the evening knitting.

Saturday we went out for another friend's birthday party. We went to this yummy restaurant in Honolulu, Buco di Beppo. Daniel and I went there before Christmas with 3 other couples. Well, this time there was a party of 13 and lots of good food. I was designated food orderer and check sorter. I don't know what made me the "lucky" person...Amaya and I worked out the check together and here we are tucking away some of the money.

After dinner we hit a club, yes I said a club. The birthday girl wanted to dance the night away. Amaya and I were a bit uneasy about going, but we were going to give a try for the B-day girl. We got there and the husbands that were there were very helpful and protective. They did not dance at all so it was just us ladies on the dance floor. It is more fun that way anyways...
Yeah we were trying to ignore the love-birds in the background too... Sorry, I couldn't cut them out of the picture easily with out cutting out Amaya. The order: Amaya, Heather (birthday lady), Jo and me.
The club DJ played good music, ranging from classic Michael Jackson to Moby to Usher and Fity Cent. Ha! It was fun.

Sunday was Sunday School in the morning, church service then home to sleep all afternoon. It had been a late night.

Sunday evening, I went over to Amaya's to make cookies for the husbands. She has the "Neiman Marcus" cookie recipe. Supposedly the recipe was taken and released to the public a few years ago, anyways, they turned out pretty gosh darn good. I took pictures because the M&Ms we used reminded me of Project Spectrum. If you don't know what it is check out my sister's blog: http://www.lollygirl.com/blog Bascially, she was inspired by all things hand-made and all things with color. She has created this project for the sake of enjoying both of these things. She has set aside months with specific colors and is encouraging people to create items, whatever they may be, in that color scheme. March is red and pink. I decided to strike both out with the cookies. Of course I got on board with the project and I have other things planned for the actual month of March as well as now. I can't wait until March! The cookies turned out yummy with chunks of M&Ms and macadamia nuts. We mailed them off on Monday along with other goodies to our hubbies. Hopefully they make it by Valentine's Day.

Monday came and went with house cleaning, gardening, and reading on another Clive Cussler novel.

Today I mowed and hung out with Jen for a while this afternoon, finally playing a game of Sudoku. I vowed to not start playing because my mother is addicted to the game. I can see why. It is a lot of fun. I am already a crossword addict. I don't need another monkey on my back. We did a crossword together then moved onto the Sudoku game. Good stuff.

Tonight I had Michele and Reagan over for dinner. They are both wives whose husbands are with Daniel. Both work and stay very busy so I needed to have them over. I decided it was time for me to make my own fresh bread so I found a yummy recipe for fococcia bread and planned an italian meal around it. The bread turned out well. I was proud so I took a picture. (I am addicted to our digital camera.) I made Chicken Tetrazzini and Reagan brought a tasty salad and Michele brought these wonderful turtle brownies. Dinner was great. The main dish was named after a great opera singer, so of course I had the opera playing strong tonight. I would have had it on anyways. Although, I have been listening to Chris Tomlin's Arriving twice everyday. Thanks Daddy!

I have been knitting on a sash/belt. I am just practicing my stitches. I bought some ribbon yarn at Ben Franklin's before Christmas on clearance. I have enjoyed working with it even though it is more difficult to get used to compared to wool or another kind of blend. I have another project already planned and I am in search of more patterns for gifts. I am enjoying knitting even though I am not as passionate about it as my sister. I do find it calming and very satisfying now that I am getting past the beginning stages. I am still a very new knitter, but I am past the basic learning of stitches, thankfully. Here is my sash. I look forward to wearing it out and about after I am finished.

Well, I am going to close this post. I am heading to bed. Reading in bed is my new evening practice. It is a peaceful way to drift off to slumberland. Funny to think Daniel is probably going to lunch around now...Hopefully, he is taking a break for lunch.

Night night!

Mom & Dad Visit and Wonderful Friends

I have stayed very busy since my last post, and rightfully so. My parents left yesterday afternoon and made it back safely this morning. We had a delightful visit with several new spots on the island for me to see as well as share with them.

They got in on Tuesday the 17th and Wednesday we took it easy so they could rest up from the long flight. We hung around base and I took them to Kailua to show them a few of my favorite places. I had AWANA in the afternoon, while my Mom got a massage and Dad rested.

Thursday we went to Pearl Harbor to visit the Arizona Memorial and the Navy Exchange. There is always a good deal of Hawaiian shopping to be done.

Friday we took a sailboat ride out off the Honolulu harbor and we were able to see Waikiki and Honolulu from the water side. It was interesting seeing the surfers from behind. We have some wonderful pictures of a beautiful double rainbow that morning as well as some great photos of Diamond Head. Unfortunately the water was rough that morning and we got a little seasick. I started with the worst of it, but by mid-trip everyone was feeling it. Thankfully it was only 4 hours. We did enjoy the beautiful scenery though. Friday night we went to the Mongolian Grill at the Officer's Club on base. We were hungry from the long day and our stomachs finally reached equilibrium from the rough waters. We got a wonderful picture in the lobby.

Saturday started with more shopping, but this time at the local flea market, the Swap Meet. It is always a fun place to stop by and take visitors because you can find great gifts to take home to friends and family.

In the afternoon we decided to go to Chinatown because they were celebrating the Chinese New Year. There was a big festival with lots of great photo-opportunities. The colors were wonderful, the food was good and the festivities were great. They had several dancing lion groups and we enjoyed watching the parade with bands, dancing lions, percussive groups, and even a special appearance of Dogg, the Bounty Hunter because it is now the Year of the Dog in the Chinese Calendar. I have never seen the TV show or even really heard about him before this past week, but let me tell you something, his wife and him are a force to be reckoned with. You can tell they do their job when you see them in person. Anyways, we had a wonderful afteroon appreciating Chinese culture.

Sunday we went to church and came home for a lunch. After lunch we started driving to the North Shore. We were hoping to see some big waves. We did indeed find some, due to the storm system we had moving over the island and of course, the time of year. There were plenty of surfers taking the risk of getting tossed and turned in the giant waves. It was such a nice sunny day we just laid on the beach for a while and decided to not hurry on to see other things that day. The sand was made of large granules so it didn't stick to your skin as badly as some other sands. I think it would have been Daniel's favorite sand, ever! (He is particular about getting all the sand off of himself before leaving, extremely particular... :->)

Monday was a little rainy and overcast so we did a little sightseeing in Pearl City and Honolulu with a good amount of shopping.

Tuesday we went to the Polynesian Culture Center. I had only been for a few hours with Lauren and Kris so I was happy to be going again. We stayed for the luau at the center that night and we were wowed by the good food, great entertainment and extreme downpour of rain we had for about 20 minutes. While we huddled under a tent with several other visitors, my Dad was a lifesaver when he left without saying anything and came back with three bright yellow ponchoes. It made our day much nicer being dry and warm. My Dad always was a thinker...
We saw plenty of dancing, heard plenty of native songs, and enjoyed really good kalua pig and other special Hawaiian foods. It was a great visit and I even got a picture with Te'o, the incredible fire knife dancer. He has the ash marks on him still in the picture. He had just finished his performance in the evening show when he came out to pose for pics. He is very funny and talented. Okay yeah, I did get rained on a bit while running for cover. I am not looking my best.

Wednesday we drove to Hanauma Bay to see how good the weather was for snorkeling. We were doubtful as we drove over and it was sprinkling rain. Here is a picture near the blowhole on Kalanianiole Highway. It was looking pretty rough. I didn't want Mom and Dad's first snorkeling experience to be a cold and miserable one. Once we got there though the clouds had cleared somewhat and we thought we'd give it a try. We were thankful we did. I love snorkeling and my parents seemed to enjoy it just as much. My Mom was a water-bug and Dad was enjoying taking pictures of the fish. We saw quite a few different species; still no turtles or octopi though. I guess I will just have to keep looking.

Overall we had a wonderful visit with plenty of downtime for just talking and catching up in person. Momma and I even knit a little together. Dad enjoyed reading a Cussler novel he'd not read and we just enjoyed each other's comapny.

My title has the "wonderful friends" bit in there because as I was driving home from the airport I had three lovely invitations from my friends to do things in the next week. They knew I needed to stay just as busy now that I don't have guests. I am so thankful for my friendships here on the island and I am blessed beyond belief with a wonderful family. Thank you for being such a blessing to me, dearest family and friends.

Much Love!

Its Gonna be a Good Day

So I wake up this morning at 5am becasue I can not sleep any longer. I had too many things to do today to prepare for my parents visit. I also had some errands to run before I get cleaned up, and a yard to mow.

There was a bad storm last night. (We needed the rain.) I was picking up debris and twigs and other things out of our yard to mow and I wasn't even paying attention to the skies. I was in the backyard first then walked down to the street to clean more garbage up and I finally looked up. What did I see? I saw the brightest, most beautiful rainbow I have seen on this island yet. Pictures do not do it justice. It was a complete arc with a second rainbow forming. I kept trying to get the whole thing but I couldn't back up enough from where I was standing in my carport. I stared at it as the sun was rising behind me. It made for a glorious few minutes.

Basically it was beautiful sight. Don't you just love God's Promises?!


Have a wonderful day!

Parent's Visit and Mass House Cleaning

Let me just tell you, I am excited about tomorrow! I pick up my parents tomorrow at 3:33pm for a 9 day visit. It is going to be a good time. I am looking forward to showing them around the island that I love, and spending some quality family time.

I have neglected the blog for some time now. I have been busy with KVs, helping my friend move into her house, and church activities. I started knitting classes and I am knitting away on my practice patterns. I am trying to learn as many stitches with the teacher that way I can do more things alone. I haven't started a specifc project yet, but I guarantee when my Mom gets here she will help me pick one. She has started knitting like crazy too. Lauren's hobby has spread through all the ladies in the family now and we are all knitting in our free time. Sarah is on her 3rd scarf, I think...so funny. Here is the pattern that took me forever to figure out. It doesn't look like much, but there are several tricky parts, and this is only 20 rows.

I hit the beach yesterday after church and I got a little sun, well, I am red in the face. It was a perfect beach day. We haven't had a beach day for a couple weeks now. It has been overcast and when it is sunny it is really windy. Yesterday was a nice day to sit out and chat with Jo while I knitted.

Daniel called on Friday and he has been working long days. Despite the 16 hour day when he called me, his spirits were up and he was happy to be there. He has been working with contractors and non-military people. It seems like that would add a nice variety to his day...

I have not sent him anything yet, due to the 3 days without mail service here on base, but I am planning on sending out a package tomorrow. I will let you all know how quickly it works. I am not planning on him getting the package until February though.

I just put my dinner in the oven so it should alomost be done. Tonight was major cleaning night. It the process I found a 4 inch centipede in the corner of one of our closets. I do not know how that thing get in our house without me knowing it, but I screamed my head off. I sprayed it with Raid about 8 times and watched it wriggle and die as I held Meli and was so thankful she didn't find it and play with it. Goodness me, those things are wretched looking. My throat hurt after the initial scream in seeing it. I am still getting chills down my spine thinking about it. Everyone I have talked to on base seems to just accept them as a natural part of living here. I haven't gotten to that point yet. I can't stand them and I try to do everything in my power to stop them from coming in. Apparently, they find a way despite my efforts. Egh! I can't talk about it anymore.
I hope everyone had a nice three day weekend!

Full Week

Hello Family and Friends. Another week has gone by and it means one week closer to my parents visit. I am so excited about their visit it is ridiculous! It is going to be so nice to have them here, besides I love house guests. Only 10 days left! :)

Daniel is doing well. Every once in a while he is able to give a quick call. Usually the call is a short one because the phone he uses cuts us off. Once the rest of his group gets there he will hopefully have a steadier means of contacting people. He is still waiting for his official address so I promise to get that to ya'll as soon as I hear from him.

All I know is that he is keeping busy. He is able to attend a service on Sunday mornings and he seems to be enjoying his work. He was moving into a more permanent place to sleep today and there is a chance he will be able to hook a computer up in the room. It may mean he has more access to the internet and more emails, but then again he may not get internet access. He is still waiting to find out about that. Right now the best address to contact him by is his yahoo account. If you do not know this please contact me for it. I am not going to post it here on the blog.

I have been staying busy with cleaning the house, reading good books, visiting with friends and going to the gym. It has been incredibly cool for Hawaii lately and my windows have been open since Tuesday. I love the breeze and Meli loves sitting in the windowsill to watch the birds. I have not gone to the beach this week at all because of the breeze and rain we have had this week. We needed the rain. Hopefully is gets a little warmer for my parents visit so we can have a little beach time.

Amaya got her wedding pictures in and I helped her organize them Thursday night. We were able to catch up some while I was able to see her lovely photos. Marc and Amaya were married on the beach on the western side on the island. They have some amazing sunset pictures that are just priceless.

Friday night we celebrated Jo's youngest son's birthday. We went to the Officer's Club for Mongolian grill. Basically it is every meat, topping, and sauce you can imagine to choose from and they cook it up for you. It is very, very yummy and never the same thing twice. They also have all-you-can-eat ice cream so Jo brought a cake and we celebrated at our table. Here is Jo and the birthday boy. He has got the cutest strawberry blond hair, although it looks really red in the picture. Hopefully he won't read this. He will be as embarassed as a 9 year old can be.

After we left the O Club, I called up another friend to come watch a movie. Reagan met me at the movie rental store and we rented The Brothers Grimm. It is the biggest waste of time. Do not rent it! It has a scattered and stupid plot, characters that are not developed well enough, and forced dialogue. It was funny just trying to figure out why good actors would choose to be in it. Reagan and I chatted after the terrible movie and resolved to spend more time together. Her husband left on the 26th as well. We are planning some potluck meals and occasional movie nights, with better movies.

Jo, Amaya and I hit the gym this morning and split ways. We were planning on going to the beach but the wind was really strong. No one wanted to go to the beach to have sand thrown on us.
I came home cleaned up, rearranged the kitchen cabinets some, and then went shopping. Body Shop was having super-duper clearances. My sister had gotten Daniel and I a home fragrance kit from there and we love it. We used all the oil by Christmas. I had to go restock on scents. I got this Lemon Fizzy flavor. It smells like lemonade. It is perfect for the kitchen after an especially garlicy meal. I stocked up on a couple other fragrances as well. It was a good shopping day. :)

As I was driving home Amaya called me and invited me over for dinner. The best part about dinners at Amaya's is she is okay about making dinner together. I went about an hour early and we made these amazing enchiladas. The recipe was phenomenal! I brought a yummy salad and we made a fresh pot of iced tea. You can't have a good meal without it! (She went and bought a tea maker after she had tried my tea. She got addicted.) We spent a good time catching up from the holiday break and planning for our future guests. She has two friends coming in Tuesday so she was sharing her plans for them. We are planning to do some things with my parents here and her guests. We are both excited hostesses!

I am going to go to bed early tonight. I have to lead Sunday School tomorrow. I am excited. I get to use a felt board for the lessons. The story is on Jesus calling his disciples. It should be a good morning.

Have a wonderful week!

First Week Down...

Sorry for not writing in a while. The week dragged by as I thought it would. The last week of December always drags no matter what you are doing. Most people are off work or out of school and actvities are canceled until the beginning of the year. It makes the week go by slowly when even when I want to get busy with church activities and all my close friends are still on the mainland visiting family.

Daniel has made it to his assigned camp for his deployment. He has only been able to drop a couple fast emails saying he will write more. I was just happy to hear he is okay. Their flight was delayed in Germany for three days due to the airport they were flying into being snowed-in. The Marines spent alot of time playing cards...

He mentioned that he is staying incredibly busy learning all kinds of new things. He is taking over from another logistics officer, so he has a lot to find out about the people to contact and the way things have worked before he got there. He is excited about all the opportunities this position has for him. It makes it easier for me knowing that he is happy with his job.

I will write more news when I hear from him. He is still trying to figure out the best address for him to recieve snail mail as well as email. I will let you all know by email.

I am picking up Amaya at the airport on Wednesday as well as a few other friends throughout the week. Church activities are starting up and I am going to start teaching Sunday School so I have a lesson to plan for the 1st and 2nd graders. I am excited about teaching that age group. It will be most of the same kids I have from AWANA so there will already be some relationships developed.

This last week I spent a lot of time with Jo, another wife whose husband left on Monday. We hit the beach, hung at each others houses and went to the Officer's Club for New Year's Eve. They had a southern rock band playing all kinds of Lynyrd Skynryd and CCR songs. It was a lot of fun. We danced together and enjoyed ourselves.

Unfortunately my phone was acting up and I missed a call from Daniel that night. He left a voicemail and I was a sad wife. Hopefully he will be able to call this week.

I just got back from the gym with Jo and I need to get some lunch in me.

Happy New Year Dear Ones!