"Aloha" Also Means Goodbye

They are taking our things now. The TV stand I put together myself. The perfect couch we found on sale. The foosball table I bought Brian for his birthday or Christmas (I never know which I'm buying for. I just wrap them all up and then split them up between the days). The plasma TV he bought with Gabe because the lamp burned out on the other one in the middle of the football game.

It's bittersweet. It's time to move on, but do we have to move? I'm excited for new friends, but must I leave the old?

Next comes the cleaning. The vacuuming, window washing, toilet scrubbing and figuring out a way to get the pieces of melted leather from the back of our couch off the wall, as well as the blood splatters on the kitchen ceiling from that time I almost cut my finger off while opening a bag of brownie mix with a bread knife (I still have no feeling on the tip of my left index finger). The lawn will be mowed for the first time since we moved in.

All our memories falling away to make room for someone else's. I hope they enjoy this home as much as we have.

We are leaving Hawaii in 20 days. I am probably going to cry

The baby was born on his exact due date, just like his sister. You can read more about the birth here. Yes, his name is King Leonidas. Brian rushed the paperwork out the door before I even had a chance to protest. But I'm calling him Leo.


He is almost 3 weeks now and so perfect. He sleeps all the time, except for a few hours at night when I'm trying to sleep. But if I were smart I'd take advantage of the moments when both he and Bella are napping and get some rest myself. So I am exhausted a lot.

We are leaving Hawaii in 20 days. I am probably going to cry. I have made so many great friends here. Friends that would and have done anything for me and my family. Friends that actually are more like family. Friends that I will miss terribly. But I am so homesick right now that I can't wait to leave.

I need to be home, even if it really isn't home anymore. I need to see my family and reunite with my peeps, and hope nothing has changed even if everything is different.

I will be 39 weeks pregnant tomorrow, and baby still hasn't showed up. So Brian is starting the paperwork for us to extend here a month longer. I am slightly relieved. I hadn't really let myself think about how difficult it would be to have to pack up right after giving birth, but I'm sure another month will be helpful. And I'll get just a little more time with all of my friends here. I'm going to miss them. Good news is we will be home for Thanksgiving, and I am really looking forward to that. I'm contemplating finally getting that tattoo when we are there.

Brian and I went to Alan Wong's for dinner the other night. Our last night out alone together before we are parents of two. Surprisingly at 9 months pregnant I still fit in my favorite little black dress, so I wore that. But I stuck to flats instead of heels this time so as to avoid another Jessica Simpson shoe fiasco like I had on our date when I was 9 months pregnant with Bella and ate the concrete, and slipped down the stairs (twice).

We had a $100 gift certificate and it was just enough to cover everything. The dessert was amazing. We got the apple banana bread pudding, and there were these little peanut butter chocolate filled balls of yum (I don't know how else to describe them). Total flavorgasm.

After dinner we went to pick up Bella at Cynthia's house and ended up staying for a while. Everyone was drinking and playing with the "I am T-Pain" app on Brian's phone. If you missed the video on myspace of Bella singing with it, here is a taste of what that app can do:



Bella and I had a dentist appointment at 8am yesterday. The first time she went they brushed her teeth with a regular toothbrush, but this time they used the special motorized one and she flipped out. She wouldn't even let the hygienist rinse her mouth, and was even more scared of the air thing than she ever was of bugs. She kept covering her face saying "I'm scared!" I still can't believe she is old enough to tell me when something frightens her. I came here pregnant with her and we are leaving here after having her baby brother. Time has gone by so fast.

One of these days I will never again be able to say "I need to start taking more pictures." I bring my camera everywhere, but hardly ever actually think to take it out and use it. Case in point: camping trip last weekend. Me, Brian, Bella, Gabe, Justin, Scott and the "Ginger" all went to Bellows. But I have no photographic documentation of the peanut butter cup s'mores, everyone playing UNO (which I won twice!), PT in the ocean, and the sandcastles and faces I made before Bella nefariously stomped on them while laughing at me. That girl.

Our plan was to stay for the whole weekend, but after being eaten alive by mosquitoes, Bella throwing a fit at bed time, and getting no sleep in our sweltering tent, that changed to just overnight. There wasn't much else for us to do after slap-catch anyway.

I do, however, have pictures from my baby shower. Cynthia threw probably the most awesomely nontraditional baby shower ever. She rented out club 4play (yes, my baby shower was at a night club called 4play LOL), and a DJ and bartender.

We were dancing and having fun, and I was so happy that there were no "guess the baby food" and "chocolate diaper" games. Everyone I know is pregnant right now, so I'm pretty baby-shower-gamed out. The funny thing was though that guys were invited to all the other "normal" showers, and the one shower that they all would have actually enjoyed was ladies only.


So now I am totally ready for King to be born. We got almost everything on our registry including the car seat and sterilizer. And with gift cards and all the doubled items that I returned we were able to get the stroller I really wanted. All of his clothes and blankets have been washed, the bassinet is ready and waiting next to our bed, and tomorrow I will be cooking and freezing enough food to last us until we leave.

I can not believe we will be off this island so soon. I'm definitely going to miss it.

He's always trying to come home

7am was when I finally got the call. It was from a number I didn't have saved in my phone, so naturally I assumed it was either the police or the coroner. What else could I have thought when my husband had gone out with his friends for a night of drinking and didn't make it home with them? While the drunks were all passed out on my couch, I was wide awake imagining life as a widow with 2 kids. But then, the call (from a payphone because his phone had died).

"Babe!" he was giggling. "I didn't come home." You don't say. "I blacked out," he's still laughing. "I was asleep in Justin's car but I don't know how I got there. The door was locked and the alarm was on." He was pretty sure he had super powers. We still don't know how he got in the car. Justin had the keys, and they had separated earlier in the night. "Can you come pick me up?" Sigh. I had told him I didn't want to have to come pick him up in the middle of the night. I guess next time I should include "or the next day after getting no sleep wondering where the heck you were."

I let him off the hook, only because I figure he only risked his secret identity and used his super powers to get into the car in an attempt to drive home to me. He's always trying to come home to me. I love him.

I truly will miss a lot about being here

My birthday week was a blast. On my actual birthday we drove down to Haleiwa. It's definitely one of my favorite spots here. The atmosphere is awesome: sort of a vintage/surfer town. We had lunch, got shaved ice at Matsumoto's, and just walked through the shops. Bella made a souvenir penny for me at Matsumoto's.


After Haleiwa, Brian and I walked around the mall for a little bit and then went to Best Buy. He got me Photoshop, so I've been playing with that a lot. It's pretty confusing so far, but I'm trying to figure it out so I can use it when I'm doing my photography thing in Japan.

The week after my birthday we did my birthday dinner at Tiki's Grill and Bar in Waikiki. I wanted a really touristy type place with this being my last birthday living in Hawaii and all. There were about 20 people there. It was awesome to be able to spend that time with so many of the people I've made friends with over these past three years. I can say I truly will miss a lot about being here.

And speaking of missing it here, we got our tentative leave date. We are scheduled to leave just a week after my due date. Depending on how everything goes with the baby, we may have to extend. Then we go home to visit for a month (and to Disneyland!!), and then we are off to our next great adventure (which I've decided to call the Sushi Chronicles).

We had sandwiches, emphasis on the sand...for lunch

The finally couple months of both this pregnancy and the end of our tour here in Hawaii have quickly snuck up on us. I have nothing ready for the baby, and I haven't even started thinking about getting our stuff ready to move yet. The weeks have been going by at a ridiculously fast pace, so my updates have been few (not that I think anyone reads this too often, but someday I'm sure I'd like to look back on this).

Jonah came out here on vacation a while back so Coralyn and I met her for dinner at Tony Roma's. I love meeting up with old high school friends.

There have been UFCs and random get-togethers spread between this entry and the last. We had a last minute 4th of July bbq at our house. I made bacon-wrapped hot dogs. We had burgers, chicken, cheesy potatoes, and Ruby's famous buffalo dip. My belly was very happy.

I got Bella a little pool so we would have more to do since Brian has been using my car. Unfortunately someone didn't want to help me out by emptying the pool so I could move it and Fluffy deflated it. It's still usable, but someone still needs to help me empty it.

Meghan and I took Chloe and Bella to the beach last week. We had sandwiches, emphasis on the sand, with homemade bread for lunch. The kids had a blast.

The other Megan has been taking Bella for sleepovers with Hailey every now and then. It has been a godsend. I went two years with not so much as one night without Bella, so getting breaks now has been wonderful. I never actually go out and do anything when she is gone, but if I ever need to it's nice to know I can.

I have never been a big fan of amusement park rides and I have an unhealthy obsession with funnel cake

Even though two is a horrible age, I have to say it has been the most fun I've had with Bella so far. I can take her places and know that she is actually enjoying herself. That is until it's bedtime when she's too tired to do anything but cry. But before the crying, we are having fun. And Thursday, fun was at the fair with Angie and her friend's son Mason. Mason is four, and asks a lot of questions, and is adorable.

The very first thing we did was go play with the goats (Bella's favorite animal. She's been getting a lot of goat time lately).

At 6 months pregnant, and accompanied by a 2 and a 4 year old, there's not much to do at the fair but eat deep fried desserts and play games. But wonderfully enough for me, I have never been a big fan of amusement park rides and I have an unhealthy obsession with funnel cake. Most of our night was spent walking around, playing games, and munching on all your token fair foods. We also caught the end of the pig races and rode the merry-go-round.


I know, I am not very photogenic these days, and she needs her bangs cut. But her dad wants her hair to go behind her ears, so the bangs are growing and stuck in her face until they do.

She won 2 prizes from some easy games. One was a tiny pink teddy bear, and the other was a plastic Dora balloon. They kept her content for most of the night.


Eventually Bella got tired, and even Mason's attempt to make her laugh by hitting himself in the head with his Spongebob balloon started failing so we had to head home.

She has this unusual obsession with goats

I love Military Appreciation Day at the zoo. Free entry, free food, and free parking (provided you find the right parking lot, which I didn't until it was too late. But lucky for me, I got close parking and there was already an hour and a half on the meter so I didn't have to put in too many quarters).

I brought Bella with friends from mommy group the first year we got to Hawaii.


She was only a few months old at the time, and it was such a hot day so we didn't really get to enjoy it. Last year I had to work. But this, our last year here, my daughter was old enough to enjoy it (until nap time) and I had no job. So we invited Cynthia and Tristan along and went to the zoo.


Bella has this unusual obsession with goats. She loves them. She was pretty excited when we got to go in and play with the goats in the Keiki Zoo.

We got to pet them. Bella tried to hug all of them, and then she tried to beat them. She isn't very kind to animals. I'm trying to teach her to be gentle.

I don't know if you have ever seen a goat poop, but it is the weirdest thing I have ever witnessed. Shortly after I saw it in person, we left the goat area.

Yogurtland

I don't think I will ever have another love in my life quite like Yogurtland. A wall of non-fat, self-serve delight in every flavor I could ever hope to imagine, a buffet of toppings including brownie and cheesecake bites, and a full cup of joy for only around $5; Nothing could compare.

Just walking into the place is like stealing a glimpse of heaven. It's bright and subtly colorful, and smells like vanilla (which of course is what I imagine heaven smells like). I can't believe such a place has existed in my neighborhood for so long and I only recently discovered it. I want a cup of Vanilla Wafer/Cookies and Cream topped with brownie bites, M&Ms, Oreo crumbs, and just a few gummy bears at least once every day, forever.

I don't know what it is with that kid and adults dressed in costumes

Just got home from Chuck E. Cheese! Jen is leaving the island next week, so we had a little goodbye get-together there. Pizza, Tokens, and prizes...awesome. And I walked all the way there after doing my workout dvd, so I'm not feeling much guilt about the root beer and 5 or more slices of pizza I had.

(Bella threw a tantrum when she had to give that balloon back to Kalia lol)

Bella got so excited when Mr. Cheese came out to mingle. I don't know what it is with that kid and adults dressed in costumes. She was the same way with Spongebob at the water park last weekend.

It's already Friday! Not sure if we have plans for tonight. We've kind of overdone it on the fun lately so Brian wants to wait until pay day before we do anything else. Our weekend might just consist of UFC on the xbox and netflix. But we do have those season passes to the waterpark now so we'll see what happens.

Pretty sure some crab meat got in my sweet tea

All you can eat crabs and Screaming Mai Tais are not a good idea. No one threw up, but I was getting sprayed with crab all night while the drunks tried cracking the legs open. Pretty sure some crab meat got in my sweet tea.

We went to Dixie Grill yesterday after a whole day spent at the water park. The water park was having a special on annual passes and Dixie Grill was having all you can eat crab night so we took advantage of all of it. And I should start taking pictures of more of this stuff.

After all that fun, everyone came over to play Taboo. Our first team was Drunks vs Sobers, and I think the drunks won by one point.

Today is Memorial Day. For some reason I was annoyed by the lack of acknowledgment for the day on my friends' myspace status messages, but I realize if I weren't an Army wife I'd probably just appreciate the day for a reason to BBQ and hang out. Since I am an Army wife though, I really do appreciate the sacrifices made (as much as I hate how cliche that sounds). I'm thankful for my husband and our soldier friends for putting their lives on the line, for losing friends, for protecting friends, and for practically giving up their own freedoms to protect ours. And I'm thankful for my Army wife friends and their own sacrafices as well, for their families, for their careers, and their sanity while their husbands our deployed.

In other hobby news, I'm taking up gardening

Brian woke me up this morning and pointed next to our bed (which is wear Bella sleeps at the moment). Next to sleeping Bella, Fluffy and Baya were curled up asleep as well. It was one of those "wish I had my camera" moments (which I seem to have a lot).

I finally checked out a book from the Honolulu Public Library system. You have no idea how much it thrilled me.

I got my library card maybe a year ago or so, but had never used it until yesterday. There isn't much to do when your house is clean, everyone is fed and washed, you're over all your favorite websites for the day, and the TV is taken. So I looked up the closest library in proximity to our house. Lucky me, it's right down the street. Like, I could easily walk there if I wanted, which is what I plan to do now when I'm bored (given Bella isn't being her usual mean self). Since I know you are wondering, I checked out Catch-22 and I'm enjoying it so far.

In other hobby news, I'm taking up gardening. So far all I've done is weed the little garden area in the front yard. But I plan on putting in some plants and flowers as soon as I get around to it. And eventually I hope to take a lawnmower to the backyard. I have to drive down to the main residential office to pick one up, which is the only thing keeping my yard from looking halfway decent.

We went to the water park this weekend with Ruby, Gabe, his brother and family, Scott, and we met up with Seitz and his family. Bella had a lot of fun and got a tan. I'm so jealous of my 2 year old. I didn't burn too bad this time though, so something to be thankful for! We're going again on Sunday, and then to Dixie Grill for all you can eat crabs. I love their sweet tea!

My ultrasound appointment is on Friday. I'm sure I'd be excited if we were still waiting to find out what we're having. I had a checkup on Monday and everything looks good so far, although the doctor said I need to gain more weight. I was dreading hearing that because that's what happened with Bella, and I ended up gaining more than I was supposed to. But I'm pretty sure the scale at the doctor's office is off because it said I haven't gained anything in 4 weeks, while the scale at our house says I definitely have. There was about a 5lb difference between our scales, which would mean I'm actually right on track. We will see what happens at the next appointment, but for now I'm taking in all my calories and still moderately working out so I don't accidentally gain more than I need to because of a fluke on their part.

Baby King Leonidas is getting stronger. I feel him punching and kicking harder every day. I imagine he is practicing for his fight against the Persians.

I'm spending a lot of time practicing my skills

My goal of enjoying Hawaii just got a bit more attainable. The portrait studio laid everyone off, so I'm out of a job. However, I did get a call today asking if I would come back. Although the offer is tempting (I loved the work and it was nice having my own money) I've enjoyed my two whole days of unemployment.

Yesterday Cynthia and I celebrated Cinco De Mayo with lunch at Taco Del Mar. Delicioso. Later we stopped by her place to hang out and eat. She was dressed like a cholo. Silly girl. I wouldn't have been able to go had I still had a job because I was working pretty much every night up to the end. There is a lot I will be able to do now with all this time on my hands (for example, update my blog so I can look back and rememember all the good things about living here).

Brian and his friends have been partying, and I am happy to know for a fact that my husband would cross as many miles as he had to just to get to me. Or at least he would try if he were completely wasted.

I finally bought more canvas and paints so Bella could help make artwork for my house, and we could have something to do when there's nothing to do. We made a pretty piece for the downstairs bathroom (which looks really great with the new towels I got), and we are working on something for the living room.

I got a new DSLR from Brian for our anniversary, so I'm spending a lot of time practicing my photography skills so I can get good enough at it to go pro on my own. I'd like to make a little money of my own when we are in Japan, and hopefully I can do that by taking family pictures out there.

Overall the loss of job has been a blessing thus far. I will let you know if I end up going crazy later.

I saw it breakdancing on the ultrasound screen, so it's there for sure

I suck at updates lately. But, see, I have this terrible 2 year old who keeps me busy quite often.

Brian is in Singapore right now enjoying a more beautiful version of Hawaii without all the bums and dry grass/weeds. And it's only his first stop in his trip of all the places I've wanted to visit in my life. Of course, it's for work so it can't all be fun. Meanwhile I'm stuck here at work...not going to museums and being a tourist. I did take Bella to the beach the other day though and we had a good time. She kept trying to run into the ocean. I don't think I look as good running towards the water in a bathing suit as I might have a couple years ago. If I wasn't myself, the sight of me might have made me vomit.

And speaking of vomit, I haven't done any of that this whole pregnancy. In fact, if it weren't for the frequent ER trips we've had to make due to a bleeding scare, I might not believe I was growing a human at all. But I saw it breakdancing on the ultrasound screen, so it's there for sure. Plus I'm getting kind of chunky. I haven't yet gained any weight though. But I am getting fat for sure.

This was me at 5 weeks


And now me at 12 weeks


The bleeding has since stopped thanks to antibiotics. But I am still on some form of "bedrest" trying to take it easy. I'm not able to take pictures at work because it's too much excitement for my body at this time. Instead I am stuck on the sales table. How ironic given the fact that I've avoided it for so long. But it's not so bad anymore. I felt bad at first, trying to get these people to spend so much on pictures. I come from a poor background. But if they didn't want to spend the money they wouldn't do it, so now it's like a game to me to see how much I can sell. Don't get me wrong, I still feel like a douche bag. I'm just doing my job. And I'm doing it well. I went from having the lowest rate of sales and now I have the highest. If I ever do end up doing photography on my own as a side job, I still won't do it for huge profit. I am only a temporary douche bag for Sears Portrait Studio.

My dad was in town for Bella's birthday. Jenni and I got him a ticket out here for that week. I took him to AZ Memorial, Battleship Missouri, USS Bowfin, Dole Plantation, and Germaine's Luau. It was a nice trip. He made breakfast one morning, taught me some old recipes, and did the dishes. I'll have to post photos from his visit later. Brian has my laptop in Singapore right now and all the pictures are on there.

Last week I took Cynthia's maternity pictures. It was my first time doing creative maternity pictures, so I used her as practice and I have to say they turned out really nice. So now I won't be so nervous the next time a pregnant lady comes in.


After we finished the pictures, we went to Cynthia's friend's house. A bunch of ladies were doing a girls night. I almost said no to going because I was really tired. But I'm glad I did. We played "What's Yours Like?" and talked, and ate pigs in a blanket. My only regret of the night was that I didn't grab more pigs in a blanket before we left.

The next night Brian and I went to Pipeline with Gabe and Ruby to see Nick Swardson. Brian and I hadn't been out together without Bella in a long time, so that in itself was nice. And the show was really good, minus the opening act. That guy was horrible and the only thing he really said at all was that Hawaiians need to make more Barack Obamas. I mean, that's not even funny.

Other than seeing a comedy show, the highlite of the night was when (after much coercion from Coralyn) I took a pregnancy test and it was positive. Actually, it was a digital test so it actually said "Pregnant" and that was much more shocking to read than "+"

So now I am 5 weeks pregnant, and not really feeling it at all yet. I don't have any symptoms this early, and I'm hoping that morning sickness will forget me this time around since I got it extra bad the first time. But it usually comes by the 6th week so I will check in then, or not depending on how bad it hits if it does. I have no idea how I will handle Bella, work, and puking all day.

I am determined to not get fat with this pregnancy. I am already doing better since I started eating healthy and working out before conception. The only thing that kind of sucks is I was doing a really intense workout before, and now I'm not sure how much of it I can do since there is a lot of jumping and bouncing. I'm going to try to do it modified today though. I have been walking every day with Bella, and it just does not feel like much of a work out no matter how far we walk.

A little bloated at 4 weeks, my bump:


Brian of course hopes it's a boy, or a grizzly bear. I will be happy either way. It would be nice to have a boy because so many girls have been born to the family. I'm feeling boy this early, but we will see in 15 weeks (given this child cooperates).

"I want to hike Diamond Head...Me too, let's do it tomorrow."

Hooray for something interesting! It has been far too long. Or maybe not. Interesting things have happened, I just haven't been in the mood to write about it.

Anyway, I finally hiked Diamond Head. The other day Coralyn and I decided we wanted to hike. The conversation went something like this: "I want to hike Diamond Head...Me too, let's do it tomorrow." So we did, because if we hadn't done it the next day we probably would have never done it.

I've heard horror stories, but the hike was definitely not as bad as I had thought. The stairs were rough, but I think more so just because they were small and looking at so many stairs kind of confuses your brain. I had to start taking them 2 at a time in some spots just so I didn't trip over myself. We did the grapevine on the way down, which seemed to make it easier.


We got stopped for a photo op with an Asian tourist before hitting the stairs. I thought she was asking us to take a picture of her and her husband, but then she posed with us. That has happened on more than one occasion here.


About an hour or so later, we made it to the top. The view was definitely worth the work.

On the way down, the backs of our feet kept getting caught on the stairs (which is when we decided to grapevine), we stopped to eat our lunch (my sandwich was way better because it wasn't soggy lol), and Coralyn made friends with a bug. When we finished our hike we rewarded ourselves with shaved ice in Watermelon, Pineapple, and Strawberry.


This hike definitely made me feel guilty for staying inside so often. There is so much out there I am missing out on. My new New Year's resolution is to be more adventurous. So weather-permitting, I might go to the beach today. I haven't been in a few months. Kind of ridiculous when the ocean is figuratively in your back yard.

Coralyn and I also signed up for the March of Dimes walk here in April. If anyone at all reads this and wants to donate, you can click the fundraiser badge to find out how:

2008

Is it just me, or does it seem like a year goes by really fast the older you get?

But when I actually stop and think about the journey, it seems like I went through an awful lot between point A to point B, and maybe the year hasn't really gone by that fast. Maybe I was just looking ahead too often to really "Carpe diem." I've always had that problem. I will work harder on the solution this year.

In 2008 I learned things are not always what they seem. It's easier to just let go of the past and hurt feelings than it is to struggle with the memories every day. You can not control a persons actions or emotions, and you have to just brush it off when they upset you. When you get the urge to do something like tell an old friend hello, you should do it because you might not get the chance to say goodbye. Sometimes resolutions are hard to keep because you have changed as a person, and those things are no longer important to you. It's ok, move on.

So in a whirlwind, my life experiences of the year have included:

-Moving from Shafter to Mililani, and then from Mililani to Pearl City. I love this house.

-Brian was promoted.

-Bella's 1st birthday party, in our tiny condo, with about 15 people crammed in. I found out I am really good at making Blue's Clues birthday cakes!

-Found a church that I love.

-Mom and Jaycee came on a spur of the moment visit (mom: "What would you think if I flew out tomorrow?" me: "I think that would be flippin sweet!").

-I swam with and kissed a dolphin, and I liked it.

-Countless trips to Dole Plantation.

-Peed in the woods for the first time while camping at Bellows.

-My first real Valentines Day "together" with Brian.

-First trip to the waterpark.

-Urban Outfitters obsession began.

-Two year anniversary at the Top of Waikiki.

-Got a job.

-Got boobs.

-Survived paranoia, and stopped fighting with my husband so much.

-Took in my sister for a couple months while my mom was finding herself.

-Signed up for school again...and then didn't...again.

-Said a sad farewell to an old frenemy.

-Turned 21, and enjoyed my first legal ladies nights.

-Finally got new furniture, and I love it!

-Found out we move to Japan in October 2009.

New movies I remember seeing in theaters: Cloverfield, 27 Dresses, The Incredible Hulk, Step Brothers, Pineapple Express, Twilight, Iron Man.

For my resolutions, see the previous post.

Sayonara 2008! You've been decent to me, but it's time to move on.

not working ever again would be great too

Things should be getting back to normal fairly soon. Brian has a flight in on the 21st. Jaycee has a flight out on the 27th (I think...could be the 28th or 29th). I'm back at work as of today (blah). I've had a nice couple weeks off, but not working ever again would be great too.

Crotchie is here now. We've been to hooters, the movies (Pineapple Express), the beach, the base, and all over Hawaii in search of the Army Wives season 1 box set (if you are looking, apparently the NEX is the only place that carries it).



I netflixed the first season, but we only got the first disk in which was only about 4 episodes and it ended in a bit of a cliffhanger. I will spare most of the details, but basically that night we ran all over trying to find it on dvd and got nothing. We downloaded the next episode on itunes to get our fix, and then couldn't get the rest on dvd until the next night. And after we finished all of those we downloaded all the episodes available on itunes and we are attempting to get caught up before the new episode on Sunday.

I thought my life was more exciting this week, but I really have nothing else to say =)

premio survey

2008 Premio Award Rules:
1. When received, you may post the premio to your blog.
2. Link to the blogger you received it from.
3. Give it to 7 blogs
4. Link to those 7 blogs
5. Leave those seven bloggers a comment about receiving the brilliant premio.


So Audrey (quite possibly the only person interested in my blog...) has tagged me. Here goes, for her and anyone else who reads:


A. attached or single?
Attached.

B. best friend?
Fluffy.

C. cake or pie?
Pie.

D. day of choice?
Tuesday, because if I don't have work it is probably the slowest day at the beach which means better chance of finding parking.

E. essential item?
Chapstick.

F. favorite color?
Green.

G. gummy bears or worms?
Worms.

H. hometown?
Sacramento/Antelope, CA

I. favorite indulgence?
Spa days.

J. january or july?
January.

K. kids?
Isabella Krystel.

L. life isn't complete without?
Laughter.

M. marriage date?
March 18, 2006

N. number of brothers & sisters?
Three sisters and a brother (but I've never met him).

O. oranges or apples?
Oranges (Audrey, they make orange peelers...much less hassle)

P. phobias?
Flies. I hate flies. And the usual, heights, small spaces, dying (just afraid of how and when, not about what happens after).

Q. quotes?
"Things may get harder before they get better, but we are stronger than we know"
-Arnold Schwarzenegger

R. reasons to smile?
Bella's smile makes me smile.

S. season of choice?
Winter. After two years in Hawaii, I am so over summer.

T. tag five peeps!
I don't know that many bloggers...

U. unknown fact about me?
I'm an open book.

V. vegetable?
Green beens.

W. worst habits?
Popping pimples that don't belong to me.

X. x-ray or ultrasound?
Ultrasound.

Y. your favorite food?
Baja Beef Chalupa from Taco Bell tops the list.

Z. zodiac sign?
Leo.

I tag:
I know I'm breaking rules here, but no tagging for me. How about, if you read this and you have a blog, send me your link in my comments and tag yourself.