Tag Archives: ford island

Joint Spouses’ Conference 2012 Recap

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Okay so this was awhile ago but I had such a great time and took SO many pictures I wanted to share it. Also I had forgotten my camera and had to drive home and get it so after doing all that these pictures MUST see the light of day!

The Joint Spouses’ Conference is a military spouse conference that is hosted each year by one of the branches. This year Navy had the privilege and the conference was held on Ford Island.

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We had the CO of Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam open up the conference, then a really cute little message from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dempsey and his wife.

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I was actually second guessing my decision to go at the last minute, I was getting some major anxiety over the fact that I was going to know NO ONE! I found out the night before that one of my friends from football was going to be there so at least I had someone to eat with!

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We got great little welcome baskets and a tote bag full of more goodies. The entire conference was decorated SO well, I was very impressed! Those ladies did an awesome job!

There was a large list of workshops you could take: cooking, painting, photography, sailing, hula, lei making, business classes. You name it. I went with Lei Making, Beyond the Mai Tai, Hula and Chocolate.

First up Lei Making. I really enjoyed this and was amazed at how easy it is, just threading flowers. Tuber roses smell AMAZING! We also did a ti leaf lei which involved twisting ti leaves. It was not really complicated but my brain is old and tired! So I ended up with a ti leaf bracelet! This workshop was put on by the Hale Koa hotel which is a military hotel in downtown Waikiki. The women were great and VERY informative. Seriously I would love to take some Hawaiian studies classes!

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Sporting my new handmade lei of purple orchid and tuber rose!

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Next up was Beyond the Mai Tai, which was also hosted by the Hale Koa, but the bartenders this time. And yes it was still rather early in the day for drinking but what the heck. We had some delicious samples, got some great recipes and all got a little bit tipsy. Good times!

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Lunch was delicious! We had a ton of dessert and it was hilarious to see all of the photographers whip out their cameras to take pictures of the food. I know my husband rolls my eyes at me but it is so nice to be among like minded people!

 

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Our guest speaker was Mrs. Hawaii who happens to also be a Navy veteran and current military spouse. She was not your normal pageant queen but was really down to earth. She is doing some amazing work with childhood obesity and nutrition in Hawaii.

IMG_9907aWe also had some adorable little hula dancers but my camera was on a wonky setting and none of the pictures turned out.

After lunch it was time for Hula lessons! This was a class that was insanely out of my comfort zone. I don’t dance. Like, ever. Well maybe if I’ve had enough to drink but the mai tais had worn off by now! But this is something I really wanted to do and thankfully we had a great instructor, the same lady from the Hale Koa that taught me lei making! I don’t have any pictures because it’s pretty impossible to take photos and hula. But I had a GREAT time and actually remembered most of the steps!

Now, time for Chocolate making! This was fun basic intro to working with chocolate.

We had our ingredients laid out in front of us, ganache with some different flavorings like lavender, cocoa powder, cayenne, sea salt,  and nuts. I thought mine looked like the Hawaiian islands.

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And here I am with all of my finished truffles. And a chocolate dipped strawberry.

IMG_9919aI really liked the sea salt as well as the cayenne truffles. I accidentally gave Omar one of the cayenne ones when we got home. He was like ‘what is wrong with this, its burning my mouth!’ Sorry! My kids aren’t fans of ‘weird’ chocolates!

We wrapped up with some more food as well as a silent auction and a basket raffle and I was beat! I had a really great day and met some really nice women. Really my only complaint was that everyone had their iPhones in front of their face all day. We aren’t there to check FaceBook, we are there to meet people and have a good time. It was kind of annoying but whatever. I am really looking forward to going again next year, I think the Army will be hosting.

 

And here are just some random photos from the day:IMG_9874

 

 

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Keeping busy…

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Now that my kids are in school and my husband is back to work (oh how I enjoyed having him on leave for a month!) I have to find something to do to keep myself busy. I miss working which is crazy but I enjoy getting out of the house and making my own little paycheck. I don’t plan on going back to work full time since my husband will be working crazy ship hours, but I would like to find something part time while the kids are in school or maybe volunteer.

I have, however been signing up for stuff like crazy. I’ve joined a women’s flag football team and I am having a blast. It’s been a great way to meet some really fun ladies. We are almost all military wives although we have one military daughter and one DoD civilian. We have been practicing our asses off (and my poor quad and ankles are not forgiving me for it!) and we have our first game Sunday. Against the active duty Navy women’s team. Who are the two-time champions. No pressure! 

I also signed up for my first 5K. This is something I’ve been wanting to do and I’m not sure why it’s not on my life list. I’ve started running again and I was finally back to running a mile straight before hurting myself in football. Now I am hobbling all over the place. I am going to be doing The Color Run in November, seriously, how frickin’ fun does that look? Even if you just walk it! I am really happy that one of the girls on my football team started a color run team so I won’t be by myself!

Also I just found out about the Joint Spouse Conference in October, it looks like it’ll be a lot of fun. There are a ton of different workshops to choose from. I am leaning toward signing up for Lei Making, Asian Cooking, Beyond the Mai Tai, and Digital Photography. We will see what is still available when registration opens at 8am tomorrow!

Oh, and an update on our stuff! I’ve been calling the moving company at LEAST once a week to get updates on our stuff. I was really frustrated because it has been sitting in Long Beach for weeks going through customs and then there was some kind of consolidation issue (I guess getting enough containers coming over here at the same time? I don’t even know.) I had called last Friday before the long Labor Day weekend to see if maybe just maybe it got on the boat and wouldn’t be sitting there ignored for another three days. Nope, no such luck. Still in CA. 

So I call back today, (really I am probably annoying the crap outta them but c’mon, I want my stuff!) and they transfer me to someone and tell me our stuff arrived on island on Sunday, the 2nd. WHAT?? So that is a very unexpected happy surprise! We probably won’t get it for another week or two because it takes forever for stuff to clear the customs there (I think our Volvo was there for a week) but it’s here. Like 10 minutes away from me! So while I am seriously NOT looking forward to unpacking, I am looking forward to having my clothes, my kitchen and my kids toys back in my possession! Just praying that everything made it safe and sound!