Author Archives: Reb

Maybe I just need to join a commune…

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Or not. I like my deodorant too much.

You may have gotten a taste of my earth-friendliness through these pages and I’m afraid the older I get, the worse I am going to be.

My husband and I were watching some Paul Rudd movie where he and his wife get stuck on a commune and he commented that he could totally see me doing something like that.

Living sustainably, off the land like that would be incredible. One thing I am really not happy with is the fact that we aren’t allowed to have chickens in this neighborhood. I am obsessed with chickens. And gardens. I am turning into a crazy person!

Two things today have made it even worse: my new cookbook and the show Doomsday Preppers.

Finally spent the last of my Barnes and Noble gift card my mom sent me for Mother’s Day (thanks mom!) on two books Homemade Pantry and Almost Amish (which I haven’t read yet). I’ve been trying to make as many of my kids snacks as possible or at least buying the big bag to reduce waste. This book just made so much sense to me. It’s beautifully written, I feel like I am sitting in her kitchen as she cooks, the pictures are stunning and the message is sincere. Making these types of foods is almost thrilling. You don’t HAVE to buy them. I am very excited to try to make cheese crackers. Crackers! Who makes their own crackers anymore?! I know. I have serious issues.

Secondly, I stumbled across the show Doomsday Preppers. Many of the people have a very different philosophy and mindset than I do, and just about everyone on the show is prepping for a different “end of the world as we know it” scenario. And while I don’t necessarily want a bunker, 150 rifles or 40 cases of Spam, I really like watching the stories about the people who are already trying to live as much off the grid as possible, in case there is suddenly no grid. So now I want an urban garden, milk goats and a rain collector. It’s an illness people!

So yeah, don’t be surprised if when my husband retires from the military in ten years I have talked him into buying a farm.

I don’t know if I should start on Almost Amish or go read Shopaholic to counteract my go green tendencies!

Thankful November {November 12}

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Day #12

Today I am thankful I live in Hawaii. Yes it can be hard to be far from family but I just love it here. Its beautiful.

It’s my Blogoversary!

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So an entire year of nonsense. Who would have thought? Honestly, I have NEVER been one who has been able to keep up a diary or journal – and Lord knows I am not a writer – so I am pretty proud of the fact that 180-some posts later I am still enjoying this.

I am only kicking myself for not starting sooner. I’ve been reading blogs for years and was very intimidated. Finally decided to jump right in and I am so happy I have. I hope that people reading get a peek at our life and maybe learn a little about living in Spain or Hawaii.

So onto our day today!

Veteran’s Day so the kids were out of school. Once again I am sitting there wracking my brain trying to find something fun to do.  I have to try and force my children out of the house or else we will never go anywhere, become hermits and I’ll never shave my legs again.

So google, various military wives forums and bingo, out to MCBH to hit up their Tiki Island. I love this side of the island, it is just so beautiful and EVERY time I come out of the tunnel I just can’t believe I get to live here!

Started off with a little mini golf. Omar had never played before, and it was only a tiny bit frustrating to try and get him to hold the dang club the right way! There weren’t too many people there so it was great.

 

 

 

 

Here is Omar after hitting his hole in one. Guess he caught on pretty quickly, he was the only one to get one!

 

After a round of mini golf we hit up the bumper boats. Oh. My. Goodness. I don’t know when I last laughed that hard.

 

 

 

 

The boats have squirt guns on them. We were soaked.

 

 

 

 

Mckenna. Soaked.

Omar. Soaked.

 

Adios Tiki Island! If you go do boats first so you can dry off during golf!

After that I drove around the base a bit, ending up driving up this hill? Not sure if it was legal or whatever, but there were no signs and no one stopped us. And the view was spectacular!

 

We ended up having a great day (after a mandatory commissary run that was painless! A miracle!).

On to a busy week, thankfully it’s a short one!

 

 

 

Thankful November {November 11}

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Day #11

Today I am thankful for the veterans who have sacrificed so much to keep us and our country safe. I personally know the type of sacrifice my sailor has to go through, leaving his children and home, and I appreciate all that he does for our family and our country. Thanks go out to all of our veterans on this day and every day.

So sometimes we sneak into pools…

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Okay, this was an honest mistake. Mostly.

See we knew there was this awesome pool on Fort Shafter, sand in the bottom, great splash area, beautiful views of Pearl Harbor and the ocean..

I assumed that is was the same deal as the pools on the other bases, like Hickam and Pearl and Tripler. They are there for all military to use.

So we get there and there is a sign in book and a sign that says something about a pool pass. Uh-oh. But instead of turning around I act like we belong there, sign illegibly in the book and grab a chaise lounge. It probably helped that it was late in the day and the lifeguards were bored.

I guess the pool is only for the residents of the Island Palm Housing, which totally sucks because we aren’t going to be able to go again and my kids LOVED IT.

Look mom! Sand. IN THE POOL!

 

Seriously, this is a genius concept. It’s like the beach but with clean, chlorinated water. Heaven.

The sandy beach side of the pool is shallow and great for little kids (and big kids, Mckenna loved it).

 

There is this rock wall divider that separates the sandy, shallow part from the non-sandy deeper part.

 

 

It really was a great pool and I’m bummed because we probably won’t be able to sneak in again and it’s the ONLY pool that Omar actually asks to go to. And yes we are spoiled by a ridiculous amount of pools (and beaches!) but dang it! This one was awesome!

Striking out at the craft fair

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Well Omar and I had a lovely lazy Saturday morning, I woke up just in time to do some chatting online with my hubby before he went to bed. I got to drink a couple of cups of coffee while watching tv, couldn’t think of a better way to start the weekend. Finally roused myself enough to get me and the boy ready to scoop up Mckenna from her sleepover. As I am heading out the door she calls asking to stay until 1:45! I know the mom had said that they had somewhere to be at 2, but I didn’t take that for pick your kid up right before then. Nope, my dear, you are getting picked up at 11am, give that poor woman a break (really? three girls sleeping over, is she crazy?)

Pick her up and head over to Hickam to see their big fall craft festival. I LOVE them! We got some good food, well I did anyways, the kids wanted snow cones and ice cream. I don’t know if letting them have it qualifies me as a good mom or a bad one. I, however, got a glorious plate of food from Sam Choy’s, three kaluha pork sliders, islands chips and plantation iced tea for $7. And it was SO pretty! I am a sucker for a well plated dish. I’ve been meaning to get over to their new location on Hickam, their menu looks great.

We finally started wandering around the booths, and I have to say I was a bit disappointed! It seems like everyone has jumped onto the same craft bandwagons. There were SO MANY hairbow booths, like really, how many bows do you think people need? And I love hair stuff, it’s the fact that they were all selling pretty much the same style! Also, the tutus! They were everywhere. It kinda sucked because there were absolutely no options for things you could by for a boy. Eight million girly accessories and not a thing in sight for a boy. I was also a little disappointed because I was on the hunt for some Christmas gifts for the family but there wasn’t much that was Hawaiian. Glitter covered seashells weren’t exactly what I had in mind. Oh, I did see some really cute crocheted pineapple ornaments that I totally forgot to go back for.

So in the end I got nothing. Mckenna bought this sock animal that is so totally her. She just adored it, and I think I am going to encourage her to try making her own. I’ll have to take a picture because this thing is wild, neon, button eyes and a tutu. No normal sock monkeys for my girl.

So now I am still starting from scratch for all of the Christmas gifts I need to send out. I think I’ll try the big flea market at Aloha Stadium, I’ve heard they have a great selection of gifty stuff.