Tag Archives: military wife

It’s starting to feel real

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We got our plane tickets! It’s crazy, it seems like we may actually be moving! I don’t even really want to talk about how long the flight from Spain to Hawaii. Amazingly we are going to land the same day we take off, but actual travel time is 26 hours. Yikes.

I’m still crossing my fingers that we are going to be able to get the dog on the flight. Iberia (who we are flying from Spain with) says they don’t have any restrictions when it comes to breed or heat. Flying with a boxer in July I am worried about both.  We are flying United out of LAX and they also say they don’t have any restrictions. THANKFULLY we are able to fly him as excess baggage with United, originally they told us he was going to have to go as cargo which meant in our 2.5 hour layover we were going to have to leave the airport and navigate our way to the cargo terminal. I can’t even imagine.

So my focus now is going to be to actually pull our suitcases out and start to slowly fill them up. I am trying to keep it as light as possible. I don’t think we’ll need anything but clothes for the first few weeks. I am reeeeeeeeeaaaaally not looking forward to being in a hotel long term with two kids so I am hoping and praying that we get a house sooner than later. The problem with that is that no property management companies or anyone else renting a home wants to talk to you if you are not on island. Also hoping that Navy Housing has us bumped on the list for some reason. I am starting to feel like I’ll take ANYTHING at this point which could backfire if we end up settling for something that we end up regretting.

So. Getting excited but there is also a never ending list of things to do, things to book, packing lists to create. Hawaii, you better be worth it!

(Also if anyone has any input on Kamehameha Loop or Manana housing, let me know! They both have a very short wait list. I really wanted Radford Terrace but don’t think I can wait 4 months!)

Faro, Portugal

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We had the chance to take a quick day trip to Portugal last week, believe it or not after living in Spain for 4 years we STILL hadn’t made it the few hour drive to Portugal!  We finally made the trip and while we had a nice time, I highly recommend you drive a bit further than Faro and spend time in Albuferia, there is a lot more to do there.

We started off right by the marina and proceeded to walk just about the entire old town, eating as we went.

The churches were beautiful. I was very upset that we tried to go to the Bone Chapel too late in the day and they had already closed. Also LOTS of storks roosting on the buildings. Baby storks everywhere! (And I’ll be using LOTS of collages today, I tried weeding my pictures down and I still had a million)

And I just LOVE the pyramid shaped roofs that a lot of the buildings have. That is a distinctive Portuguese style.

 

Lunch and some pretty trees… Omar had this calamari/prawn skewer, looked amazing!  I on the other hand need to stop being so adventurous when I eat in a foreign country. My entree tasted good but had some unidentifiable chunks of meat that did not look delicious. I *think* it was veal but my Portuguese is non-existent!  Our lunch spot was beautiful, the restaurant had a garden/patio in the back covered with a pergola. Very relaxing.

 

Taking the opportunity to get LOTS of photos on the steps to this church…

Oh my. The tile and stonework here was a-mazing! I took many many more photos of the ground than these. In the pedestrian shopping area each street had its own design. Beautiful. And this archway is into the ‘old town’ and was insane. I can’t even imagine building that.

Oh and this graffiti?  Loved it! These shots also show off the nature reserve in the background. It is a beautiful area where a river meets the sea. The sandy beach is actually on the other side of the reserve.

If you get the chance take one of the boat tours… You can kinda barely see the beach on this picture…

 

I thought this was very funny… This sign says “The Sea” in Portuguese but if you look at it in English it says Omar! Love it!

Some gelato to tide us over on the ride home…. The looooooong ride home. While we did have a great family day and enjoyed our walking and eating and photo taking there really isn’t a lot to do in Faro.  Head another 45 min west and go to some of the bigger resort towns (or even further and hit up Lisbon!) I was just happy to spend the day with the family and check another country off of my map!

 

 

Advice needed from my moving military mommas

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So doing the express shipment this week and I’m trying to figure out what to pack. Have an idea of some basics, but I would love to hear some advice about what you needed/didn’t need and what were kicking yourself for not packing!

Our situation:

We are doing our express shipment/unaccompanied baggage shipment first, HHG pack out last. We are doing this on the *very* slim chance that we’ll actually get a house within two months. So we’ll need household stuff, kitchen stuff, things so that we can live in an empty house (although hopefully we can get loaner furniture)

So all my seasoned travelers, what to bring??

Going Away Lunch

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There are two of us getting ready to PCS soon at work. We decided to all go out together for a quick lunch for a final farewell. It was at one of my favorite places, Las Tinajas.  We had a really nice lunch, the only thing missing was the sangria!

 

Me and Ladonna, my partner in crime at work. We keep the sarcasm level up around the place. I am really trying to figure out a way to smuggle her to Hawaii with me!

Renee and Patricia, our director and assistant director. Patricia is on her way to Germany, so we are headed to opposite ends of the globe. Renee actually was the CDC director in Hawaii before Rota, small world! (Also my bosses are a LOT of fun!)

Just some of our assortment of appetizers, chorizo, my favorite!

And center stage, my delicious brocheta, basically a kabob. The is the chef style, beef, chorizo, bacon and veggies. Served over fried potato slices. Heaven on a plate.

Our fun group of ladies!

Adios Las Tinajas!

Rivera Gardens: The BEST viveros ever!

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Okay, I have heard about this place for YEARS and have had numerous people tell me I HAVE to go… Our nurseries here are called viveros, and they are all over the place. The one right by the base is Viveros El Lago, I have spent a pretty penny in there on pots, flowers, herbs and ceramics.

Well one day we had some time to kill and decided to head out to the big viveros in Chipiona. A friend gave me directions and I thought I knew where it was based on the few times I’ve driven through Chipiona. Well we follow those directions and get no where. We were out in the country with nothing looking like a garden center in sight. Finally after back tracking and asking for directions and STILL not being able to find it we gave up. Decided to keep heading down the road and go to Las Dunas mall in Sanlucar. Wouldn’t you know it, we ran into the dang garden center! It was no where NEAR where I thought it was and where my directions said…

Well we found it and I could have probably wasted an entire day in there…

From the outside. The play area inside. Jungle gym & playhouse. There is also a small merry go round. And while your kids play you can enjoy a snack or coffee from the cafe inside. So nice.

There is a huge pond in the middle of the place with an island and multiple bridges. And lots and lots of koi.  I have no clue what my son is doing, probably some superhero pose.

Oh my. The plants. I’ve pretty much had to let my garden go which was really hard this spring when all I wanted to do was buy a crap load of flowers and plants. It didn’t help that we had a super hard frost for the first time in 4 years that killed EVERYTHING! My hibiscus, my banana plant, my dame de la noche. All my big stuff froze! It’s all starting to come back but I am just hoping I get some flowers out of my hibiscus before I move! Anyways, it was very hard not to buy a hydrangea in every color, they are one of my favs. (Although it took like 4 times to spell the name right)

Along with plants they also have animals! Puppies and chickens and peacocks, oh my! Seriously though if we have a yard when we move to Hawaii I am going to get some damn chickens. I want chickens SO BAD! Also who knew you could just buy peacocks? They were about 70-80 euro each, not too bad right?

O hiding under this pretty fern. Me and the girl…

This place also had outdoor furniture, grills, home decor, and tons and tons of ceramics. They have a sister store next door that sells cut flowers. It was closed when we went which is probably a good thing. Fun day shopping!

Rivera Garden directions and info.

Mother’s Day Weekend Recap

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We had a fun weekend, took the dog to the beach, went to feria in Jerez, then out to dinner for Mother’s Day at Blanca Paloma, aka my happy place.

My kidlets were threatened that they better be on their best behavior so I could enjoy my favorite dinner, the beautiful day, and the sunshine. They did great, iPods and Nintendo DS’s helped.

 

Me and crazy pants. He demanded a silly photo.

The salad of my dreams. Fresh mozzarella, fresh pesto, sun-dried tomatoes. So, so good. I also had some bruchetta with tomato, provolone and feta.  No pictures of that because it was inhaled.

Happy Mom’s Day to me! I swear I don’t always have bitch face!

On our way out, the beach was PACKED when we got there and empty by the time we left. It was a beautiful day!

On Saturday a friend of mine and I took our boxers to the beach. This whole area is under water at high tide but at low tide there is a TON of room for them to run.  Swimming isn’t allowed so it stays empty and we can let the dogs run and they don’t bother anyone.

 

Bowser decided to cool off and get into the water. He’s never done this before, but once he realized how much it cooled him off he didn’t want to get out!  I don’t even know if he can swim! We’ll have to see this summer!

All three puppies! Bowser loves his buddies!

In the amount of time that we were there (maybe an hour total walking) I got sunburned! This Spanish sun is NO JOKE!