Tag Archives: spouse

Counting down

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Well we now have less than a year left in Hawaii.
Just like when we were geting ready to leave Spain I am getting super sad and nostalgic before we even leave. It does feel like less time than that because Omar is deploying in late winter so we have to get all of out Hawaii to-do stuff done before he leaves.

I don’t want to go! I love, love, love it here. The weather, the people,  the food, the ocean, the mountains. 

So soon it will be decision time… where to go next. Of course it’s not like it is our decision entirely, the Navy will offer us a list of options and we will choose a few of those. We will either get one of them or have to try again next month.
Now staying on this ship IS an option but honestly not a real one. This command has been ROUGH. In the 3 years we will have been on this ship, Omar will have been underway or deployed for over half of it. We are ready to get away from this intense pace.
Omar would really like to get back to Virginia, he is ready to be back near family buy a house and settle down.
I am not ready to go back! I love and miss our family but I love living all over the world and can’t imagine living back on the mainland. 
Its just hard because Mckenna is going to be going into high school soon and I don’t want her to have to move in the middle of a school year then.
But as always I stress and make plans and the Navy will probably throw us another curveball!

What is your dream duty station?

Breakfast with a view…

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Omar had soccer pictures on Saturday morning over on Hickam, when he was done we had some time to kill before his game so we popped over to Wright Brothers for some breakfast. I LOVE eating here, it is priced really well ($3.25 for a kids plate and that includes a drink) the food is good and it comes out quick. Also the view is pretty great, right across the entrance to Pearl harbor. The outdoor seating is really beautiful although hard to come by, I was stalking tables waiting for someone to leave!
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It’s a great spot to take pictures (which is why soccer pictures are done here I assume!) Lots of pretty trees and a lovely backdrop. I’ll have to bring them back in something other than soccer uniforms!pose

 

There is also a seawall right by the restaurant that allows some great fish watching, lots of FAT fish from all of the bread people feed them. I even saw some yellow tangs which is crazy because we haven’t seen them ONCE while snorkeling.fish

Anyways, get over to Wright Brothers, have some breakfast or lunch and enjoy the view and breeze!

 

 

 

We are halfway DONE!

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So this weekend we finally had our halfway party… For those not familiar with the Navy, this is a party that the FRG (Family Readiness Group) throws to celebrate the halfway point in a deployment. Basically keep your spirits up. Thankfully I have an absolutely awesome FRG board and we threw an incredible party for all of our spouses.

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I just need to give a huge shout out to Target for their clearance Valentine’s items. This decor ended up costing about $40 for everything!

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We also had a little backdrop set up in the corner where we were recording video messages to send to the ship! Some of them got a little emotional and I was tearing up a little!DSC_0003

 

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I was a little worried that we were not going to have enough food because the RSVP’s had been pouring in and this was going to be potluck style.DSC_0006

 

Well I did NOT need to worry! We had SO much food! Not an inch to spare on the counter!DSC_0009

 

 

Thank you to all of the wonderful families on our ship…. Seriously, if you are new to a sea command, find your FRG! Not all of them are full of drama and catty women!DSC_0036

 

And my board is full of wonderful women… Taking on this position was SO outside my comfort zone, but I have made such wonderful friends in the process. I couldn’t have asked for a better team!

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Jinxing myself

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So yesterday morning we had the ideal get ready for school morning. I mean perfect. The best one since school started. I don’t know how it happened or if we will every be able to repeat the performance!

I was actually pretty worried because our ‘schedule’ over the past two weeks has been laughable. It’s pretty much stay up as late as you want, sleep in as late as you want. We were a mess. I tried getting the kids to go to sleep earlyish on Tuesday but didn’t really have any luck. So last night I put Omar to bed a little early because I figured he would have trouble going to sleep, nope. Right to sleep by 8:30. Mckenna on the other hand could not fall asleep! I don’t know if it was a combination of excitement and lack of a set bedtime lately but she was awake until about 10. So I was extra worried. I did have them pick out clothes before going to bed because that is always a crazy last minute “I don’t have matching socks, where is my other croc?” disaster in the morning. 

So I’m getting some internet time in after the kids go to bed and see this crockpot oatmeal recipe on pinterest. I love love love my crockpot but I have always been a little nervous about cooking overnight with it. I know they are safe but I just always feel like I am going to burn my house down while I am sleeping. But apple cinnamon oatmeal ready and waiting in the morning just was too tempting to resist and I had all the ingredients on hand! Amazing!

So around 11 I am making oatmeal crossing my fingers that it is going to turn out okay and I hear the pitter pat of little feet on the stairs. Now Omar is up. Seriously? So I tell him to go back to bed I am going to bed myself in a minute. Well I go upstairs and the little bugger is in my bed. At this point I don’t care, just want to try and get some sleep myself before the alarm goes off (I had drugged myself with NyQuil and was just waiting for it to kick in. What? I needed to sleep!)

Come 3 or 4 in the morning little miss Mckenna feels the need to wake me up to tell me she can’t get back to sleep. Really? Pretty sure I mumble-yelled for her to go back to bed. These kids are killing me!

Then at 6:18 she is back in my room exclaiming that she just got ready in 3 minutes, isn’t that great and now she is going downstairs for breakfast. I tell her there is oatmeal but then get up myself so I can go see how it turned out. Omar hears us but snuggles in for a few more minutes.

Mckenna tells me its good, then proceeds to tell me she didn’t really care for it. Why does she do this?! If you don’t like it, it’s fine! I liked it, I would just make it with less water next time so it is a little thicker. I like to add a lot of milk but this was already pretty soupy so too much mil would have been a disaster. I pop upstairs to tell Omar I have oatmeal ready and he is awake. And cheerful. That NEVER happens. This boy is my grumpy teenager in the morning who is the WORST to wake up. So he gets up and eats a bowl of oatmeal (and actually likes it) and brushes his teeth with no prompting.

At this point I am kind of feeling like I am in the Twilight Zone. But hey, I am going to go with it! Lunches are packed, hair is styled and we are out the door a few minutes early.

Then, I actually managed to leave the house in workout clothes so I go to my community gym and actually exercise! What in the world! Ran a mile straight plus warm up and cool down it was almost a mile and a half. I was super proud of myself and am going to stick with it. There is no reason I can’t go to the gym that is 1/4 mile from my house and run for 15 minutes 3-5 times a week.

So yeah. Best morning ever. I even am working on cleaning out my house. I didn’t just clean and stick stuff in closets. I cleaned SO much stuff out. My garbage can was full tonight when we took it out. Filed, sorted, and have a massive stash of stuff that needs to go to Goodwill.

Now let’s see how this morning goes, I have to say I am kinda digging a two day school week!

Honolulu Zoo

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DSC_0130aOne of our last ‘fill up two weeks off of school with fun’ fun days was to hit up the zoo. Of course when I suggested it you would have thought it was the meanest thing ever. They were turning into mole people in the days after Christmas, blinds closed, eyes glued to tv and video games. I finally dragged them out of the house and made it to the zoo all on my own, no gps needed. What a great feeling that is! Also bonus #2, I found a parking spot in the lot right next to the zoo. $1/hour parking, heck yes!

Let me go ahead and get my flower photos out of the way here. Can I just say that I love how well landscaped this zoo is? It is so beautiful and lush.

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First up, the Keiki Zoo, or petting zoo (keiki means kids/children in Hawaiian). One of my favorite parts is the koi tank that the kids can crawl through. The koi are huge and beautiful. The first time we came here Omar refused to go in so I am happy he actually decided to do it this time. Don’t my kids look like they like each other in that picture? False!

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It wasn’t too crowded which was great, we took our time and walked and walked and walked. One thing that drove us crazy was the lions! You could hear them calling from all over the park but we could never catch a glimpse. I know some new cubs were just born so maybe they were still inside but I wanted to get some pictures of mom or dad making all that noise!

We saw pretty much everyone else though. Thanks for cooperating zoo animals!

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The meerkats were cracking me up, they looked like three little old men on a park bench. And the baboon was mid-yawn, he just looks menacing but was in fact being very sweet, although look at those canines! Yikes! The lemurs and turtle were having a standoff which was quite amusing, they couldn’t get to their island and he was very contentedly sunbathing. And Ms. Rhino, well she was posing pretty!

And of course the awesome trees that are all over make for a perfect backdrop, I love the banyan trees!

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If you live here make sure you take a trip out to the zoo, they have military and kama’aina discounts! We paid $8/adult $4/kid. Not bad! Also you are allowed to bring in your own food and drinks so pack a picnic lunch and a blanket!

 

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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