June Down Range

So, these past couple of months has been a very busy part of the deployment for me as we transition into a force that is more focused on training the Iraqi Army. During this time I have had the opportunity to dispose of mountains of ammo that I found to be bad during my inspections. Working with my EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) counterparts we were able to blow most of it up in a single day. This is a real tiring process, but with a lot of helping hands we were able to lay out all of the munitions and do some training for some of the younger Soldiers. The explosion may have been a little larger than what we said it was going to be, so there was some negative feedback once we returned, but I say it was a success since the shockwave actually moved the vehicle I was sitting in.

One of my very good friends Bryan Williams took command of A Company last month which has vastly affected the dynamics of the unit. My Soldiers are re-energized and come to work every day ready or whatever is thrown at them. This new found motivation was needed as moral was starting to go down as the temperatures keep inching their way up.



The school semester is almost over and I have to say my stress level is getting ready to go down once I finish finals week. I have had the opportunity to see just how much I can fit into a day and I have to say this isn’t something I want to do all the time. The Army has decided not to fully fund its educational programs from now on due to the cost of the war on terror so it looks as if I might have to slow down a little bit.


I have been taking financial management classes the past few weeks as I try and make the most of my time here. The classes are based off of a program by Dave Ramsey who a well known financial counselor and syndicated radio host. My roommate Jordan and I go every Monday night in hopes we are able to take away some information that both we and our Soldiers can use.


As you can see I have found many things to fill my time while I am over here. I feel the more that I can cram into a day the quicker it will go by…the quicker these days go by the quicker I can get back home to my wonderful wife as well as all of you…

Hawaiian Word of the Week (and very overdue!)

Okay, so i haven't really felt inspired to update the word of the week lately--probably because my contact with the locals has been minimal as of lately. But, no worries--back in the school system I get to hear my fair share of pidgin, and oh do i ever have a word for you.

Yesterday, one of our EA's (education assistant, i believe) in the preschool class had to leave early to go help her daughter who had just been physically assaulted on The Bus (Hawaii's public transportation system). What happened was a supposed schizo lady got on the bus acting very strange and after a few minutes of riding she off and punched the girl in her face. The Bus of course pulled over and called the police--the lady already had other outstanding warrants and was arrested on the spot. The daughter is okay--just shaken up, a little scared to ride the bus now, and has a black eye.

My version of the story is merely a translation from the conversation among the EA's in the room. It went something like this..hopefully i can do it justice.

EA1: Whaddsdascoops?

EA 2: Da Kine daughter got false crack in da face

EA1: Not! Fo' real?

EA2: Some lolo woman got on da Bus at Wahiawa--ya know dem people there. Dey say she wuz tweekin' and touchin her face an hair an den outta nowheres she false crack 'er

The word we will focus on is False Crack. It took me a little while to actually figure out what had happened to the girl--i came to the assumption she was punched, and after coming home and looking it up, i was right.

False Crack; A Hawaiian slang term meaning a punch to the face and, from what I thought, often done without much more than a verbal warning at most. A surprise punch that catches the recipient at least somewhat off-guard.

Also just to "false" or getting "falsed"

Also "dirty cracks" or "dirty lickings"

ex: Dey wuz arguing for so long until James jus wen false crack em!!!

You betta watch yo' mout or you gonna get one false crack, bra.

**courtesy of the Urban Dictionary and my own personal experiences!**

Design Here, Design There...

The past few weeks I have been in a mood to create and change things--so last week I focused on my living room. There is a wall downstairs that has been bare ever since we moved in. I have had plans for the wall from the moment we bought the house, but as it was not a necessity I kept finding other things to do. Then it got to be halfway through our 3 years and i decided i didn't want to keep working on things in the case that we might move. Last week though i decided to do it anyway. SO...first things first i had to dig out the painting Mike and I bought on our honeymoon to Greece so i could get it framed. From there, everything just fell together--my shelves were inspired by Pottery Barn, I framed some pictures Mike and I took right before he deployed on the beach and found some pillows that I swear were "made" for this room.

The end result is beautiful if i may say so myself..and even just with some new shelves, pics and pillows--the blue makes it feel like a completely different room!

~My beautiful plate from Katie~

This past week and weekend, my focus was our Children's Church room. We are starting our summer curriculum about the Fruits of the Spirit, so the room is decorated like a summer in the country with red checkered table cloths, fruit stands, sunflowers and mason jars. The biggest feat was the fruit stand, which Hillary, Carrie K and I constructed ourselves with no help from any boys! And although, it was a learning experience and very comical, the fruit stand is sturdy and stands on its own and we are super proud of yourselves! I know you are all impressed--i may just have a future in construction! or not ;)

Weddings= Good Friends and Good Times

While I was home this April, my friend from Asheboro and Meredith College roommate, Miss Dee Dee Edwards (know to most as just, Dee), got married. Weddings are always lots of fun to go to, but this one in particular ranked up on my favorites list.

It really was great to see all of my Sweet Suite Girls (my college suitemates). Since graduating, getting us all together has been super difficult and if it does happen, we are lucky to get more than dinner. Luckily this weekend, we got to spend from Friday afternoon until the wedding end on Saturday night. From the moment everyone pulled into my driveway, life was back to normal, talking all at once and laughing hysterically at anything and everything.

That day we had a full schedule starting with a bridesmaid luncheon, nails, rehearsal, rehearsal dinner and then dress and hair preparations for the following day.

The day of the wedding seemed to go perfect--everyone was super happy, the weather was great, the Bride was gorgeous, and we even got to break out the Big Booty song--a tradition starting at my own wedding that I hope will carry to Tara's this summer!

It was also great to see everyone else from both Atown and college that I haven't seen in so long. It was almost like being at my own wedding all over again, but this time, not being the bride I actually got to talk to everyone and find out what people are doing. It wasn't even until Dee was getting ready to throw the bouquet and leave that i realized i hadn't sat down or gotten anything to eat or drink during the whole reception!

If only I didn't have to say goodbye to my sweet girls at the end, it would have been a perfect weekend.

MC Girls

Me and Meggo

Our Norm

Tara, Me, Amanda, Meg, and Mary

Jump Shot

Things I miss from home...

Living in HI definitely has it perks, but going home really reminds of me of some things that I miss--some that i am constantly aware of and others are very subtle and only after i have experienced them again do i realize i have even missed them at all.

For starters, its the food. And this is a big one--one I am constantly aware of. I miss good fast food, like chick-fil-a. I miss Bo's cajun fried chicken biscuits for breakfast. I miss being able to order sweet tea whenever i want it. I miss really good, cheap mexican food where the queso dip is white like it should be. I miss Olive Garden--everything about it....the salad, breadsticks, steak gorgonzola alfredo, stuffed chicken marsala, etc. I miss deli's. There is nothing like being out running errands and shopping and being able to stop at a Bear Rock or Panera Bread, or any other deli for that matter and eat a good quality sandwich. There is only so much Subway a girl can take. I miss Sir Pizza, ham and onion or on occasion ham and pineapple, no cheese, extra sauce and ranch dressing. I miss cobblers, pies and cakes that aren't made out of tropical fruits, coconuts, and stuffed with beans and mochi. I miss eastern NC barbecue, home cooked meat loaf, mashed potatoes and green beans, and I miss Rock-Ola Southwest Pasta. Obviously, i can not fulfill all cravings when I go home or else I would have to purchase two airline tickets just to get back home...but it is still fun trying!

I miss always seeing someone you know when you walk into a public place.

I miss how great a hot shower feels after waking up freezing cold.

I miss the birds singing outside my window in the morning.

I miss backyards and frontyards and driveways and houses with more than 4 rooms.

I miss friendly, southern-talkin people.

I miss being able to drive over 55 mph.

I miss Target, Walmarts with groceries, Bed Bath and Beyond, Belks, Express, and the Dollar Store.

I miss dressing up for church and listening to the choir.

I miss thunderstorms.

I miss gardens and eating fresh vegetables anytime I want.

I miss fried okra (i guess that should have gone under the food category).

I miss how running to the corner store would only take 10 minutes instead of 2 hours.

I miss the occasional cold and rainy day where that was enough excuse to spend the day inside reading and watching movies.

I miss seeing animals outside--horses, cows, deer, squirrels, etc.

I miss driving for hours on backwoods country roads, losing yourself to the music and the simple beauty of the land.

And of course it goes without saying i miss all my loved ones...but this blog is for things, not people. And all ya'll should know I miss you the most!

Embracing the Fleur de Lis

My trip home started with a detour the great LA, and I mean the state not the city. This was my first time in LA and it was almost exactly as everyone described--hot, dirty, sticky, and backwoods. But to its defense, it does have a certain charm and a culture of people unlike anywhere else I have been.

Although it's great to visit new places, the real reason for the visit was to see one of my high school best friends, Katie. She and her husband have been living there (in Lafayette) for the past year and a half working with their church and starting a community center and renovating an old Victorian home in the hopes to one day turn it into a children's home. They have done some amazing work there, and it was awesome to see what all they have done.

I flew into New Orleans, where Katie and her friend Kristie picked me up and showed me around New Orleans. Honestly, after an afternoon there I was about done. We did walk go see the major tourist sights, ie: Jackson Square, and rummaged through some antique shops. Though I never had the chance to see the city pre-Katrina so i can't really compare, all i saw were a lot of dilapidated buildings, tent cities, homeless walking the streets, and trashy stores and bars.

After leaving NOLA, Lafayette and St. Martinville were much easier to like. Katie took me to see Cajun dancing, the Tabasco Factory, and try the drive-thru daiquiri bars (i still can't believe that is actually legal!). The people were very nice and the old churches and bayou reminded me of being placed in the midst of the Awakening--kinda surreal.

The Fleur de Lis to LA, is kinda like that silly confederate flag is to a lot of the South. It is absolutely everywhere. I saw it on windows, dishes, tassels, clothes, pillows, jewelry, and they even have enough ornaments to make your own fleur de lis tree after the Christmas season is over. But, somehow i made it out of LA without one fleur de lis item...this is purely by mistake i assure you, and when i realized this i was in the Lafayette airport with its one gift shop that smelled so much like vomit i had to forgo all efforts to secure a fleur de lis souvenir. Oh well, life goes on!

Katie and Tim's house was also amazing, and i didn't even realize until i had left that i never took any pictures of it. I really enjoyed helping Katie pick out things for the house, and could i have, i would have liked to just stay with them and help them out with their house and community center. And also, it was wonderful just getting to spend time with such a good friend. I have said it many times before but i am really so lucky to have such wonderful friends. Even after not living in the same town for almost 6 years now, we are still just as close as ever and can pick up right where we left off. And even though i am loving living my own adventure, the hardest part will always be being so far away from the ones i love.

So sad we have to part.....

Back in Action

After a slight hiatus from real life I am back and feeling great. Since the beginning of April I have been visiting friends and family on the mainland, enjoying wonderful Bojangles and Chick-Fil-A, been in a wedding, playing Hawaiian tourist with my friends and celebrating my brithday (or maybe i should say birthday week!). I have lots of wonderful pictures of all my adventures on my Picasa pics page. The link is on the righthand side of this screen, so go check them out. Over the next week or so I will catch you all up on everthing I have done.

Mike has also been super busy. I have been bugging him for a blog as well, (not that i have any right--since i am so behind myself). He is currently taking college classes, which he has been doing off and on since being in Hawaii. He is attending an online college, Thomas Edison State College, that is perfect for military students--the faculty are very flexible with soldiers and their demanding work schedules. Still, as can be imagined school and work have been keeping him super busy. So we will have to forgive his lapse in blog updates! He has actually spent the last week in Kuwait at an Ammo Warrant Officer Conference. He has gotten to meet lots of new people and make new contacts, as well as see some old friends from prior deployments, schools and duty stations. This has been a nice break for him, but he reported back to me today saying he is ready to take all his new information and get back to work! Although i tend to pic on his nerdy tendencies, that's one thing i love about my hubby! He is one of the hardest workers i know and is 100% dedicated to everything he does.

As for me, like i said things are going really well. Going home was a nice break from some of the pressures and realities here that I seem to get so used to I hardly even notice until I am away from it all. Being a miltary wife has many great benefits, but it can be certainly be rough on the emotions. There's nothing that can describe what it's like to get an email about a soldier being wounded or killed and then having to send it out to the rest of your unit families--the relief you feel for it not being you, and the sadness for the families who are just like you. There is also no way to describe how it feels to know that there will always be these huge chunks of your life that person you have given your entire life to will never understand or be able share with you. So, again needless to say, the break from reality was much needed.

Since being back in the great Aloha State, my friends and I have spent as much time having fun as possible. We have hiked and beached, stayed in a beautiful hotel, rode trollies, gotten makeovers, eaten at wonderful restaurants, cheered at triathalons, had dance parties, and dinner nights and birthday parites. Just livin' it up you could say until I start my next long term sub position. Then after that the company starts rollin' in for the summer starting with my Amanda, at the end of June and I am super excited!

Updates: Carrie has gone home to SC to see her brother get married and then meet her Hubby Mark for his RR~ we are so excited for you Carrie! Have a great time and enjoy every minute of it!


My cousins Jeremy and Buffy's second child, Ruby Lee was born today 8lbs 10oz. and very cute! Congratulations!


Also, my other cousins Marybeth and Mike went into labor today with their first child, Madison. So Congratulations to them as well! What a great day!

A Weekend to Love

Right before going home to NC for a visit, I had the most wonderful weekend. My good friend Marybeth is also an army spouse. Her husband Bryan works with Mike. He was a part of the first wave of soldiers to come home for RR. While Bryan was home they rented a cabin on the west side of the Island at one of our favorite military rec spots--Pililau (pronounced: Pee-Lee-Lau). The military owns the land and there are cabins for rent right on a lagoon. The best part of this place, minus the relaxed, slow-paced atmosphere and the killer sunsets is that this is where tourists pay money to come to swim with the dolphins. In kayaking distance, and even swimming distance if you are pretty good--you can come into contact with huge pods of dolphins playing in the lagoon from anywhere to an hour to all morning long. This weekend in particular was amazing! The dolphins came out every day, and stayed for 4-5 hours. They came very close to shore and were extremely playful. We literally spent a few hours out in the middle of the lagoon swimming with the dolphins--for free. You could stick your head under water and hear the high pitched squeals of the dolphins long before you could see them. As the squeals got louder and louder you knew they were coming closer to you. It was so exhilarating to be in the wild with the huge animals--just swimming with them.

After such an awesome Saturday, i know you think it would be hard to top it on Sunday, but really Sunday was beautiful and relaxing and the very essence of what I love so much about Hawaii. After church Carrie, Hillary, Renee and I went to the North Shore for some beaching. We went to a small secluded cove that was so beautiful and maybe even my new favorite beach to go to. It had awesome trees and calm waters that were inhabited by many sea turtles. This beach is actually not far from where the beach camp scenes of LOST are filmed.

As tradition states, after all North Shore beach experiences, we must go to Matsumoto's Shave Ice. Although there has been much debate on the best shave ice in town, there is no denying that Matsumoto's has the largest selection...and I absolutely love their coconut cream and banana cream. Matsumoto's is by far the most well-known shave ice establishment and a definite tourist trap--but for that wonderful coconut banana cream flavor, i would just about suffer through any long line! Funny, in all the times of going here this is our first picture together. And if your wondering, Hillary just doesn't like Shave Ice and if you ask me, i am just not sure she is human.

As if things couldn't get any better, Carrie, Hill and I had our first bible study on Wailua Beach to the beautiful setting sun, where we were graced with sporadic breaching whales way out in the water. God's creation is so beautiful--and living in Hawaii is a wonderful reminder of that. We often play with the idea of getting rid of all our houses and all moving in together in a beach house on this very beach. There really isn't anywhere more beautiful...just take a look.

...and top all of that off with some Thai food from Haleiwa Eats.... what's not to love about this perfect weekend?

There went Peter Cottontail

Geez, there the weeks go flying by again! I have some serious catching up to do--Easter was like 3 weeks ago now! I don't know how I always manage to do this, but Easter weekend was as chaotic as it was fun, and i seriously needed a vacation from my holiday!

I actually had my first pampered chef show on that Saturday, hosted by Hillary. It turned out to be a good show, especially considering it was my first--but with Hillary and I both having a busy work/school/church week, we were definitely doing everything last minute and it was pretty hectic.

After the show, all of us girls spent the evening together eating yummy leftovers and dyeing Easter Eggs with Alexandria. (and maybe for Carrie too-- She was all excited about those camouflage eggs!) Hillary and I then had to get prepared for children's church the next morning, because the weekend had been so busy we hadn't even had time to prepare--we aren't usually QUITE that bad about procrastinating.

The next morning it was up at 3:30 am for sunrise service. We needed to be there at 5am --it takes about 25 minutes to get there and I had to get ready. I was helping our skit characters get dressed for the service. I have somehow assumed the role of costume coordinator for the church. I am sure this is because my wonderfully creative fashion sense! (then again..maybe i am dreaming, it probably has more to do with the fact i can sew!) After sunrise service we had potluck breakfast. My plate consisted of fried rice, cheesy potatoes and baked beans-praise be to the non-breakfast breakfast food! Next was childrens church where I played Nicodemus (don't I look just like him?) Then it was off to Carrie's apartment to cook for our Easter lunch at Katie and Mackey's house. I would like to point out at this time that I am a much nicer person than my friends after not having much sleep. They obviously did not get as much practice as me in school...or else i really am just nicer ;) ...but seriously, please note Carrie's crabby hat that she and Mark like to wear when they are feeling..you guessed it..CRABBY!

After lunch, we had a small Easter Egg Hunt with Alexandria, where we tried to teach her the excitement of finding the Easter Eggs. I am not quite sure she understood why were were looking for those plastic eggs to begin with. She wasn't all that interested in them, so all of us girls clapped and cheered very excitedly every time she found one, hoping that she would catch on and find it interesting...the plan sorta worked, but she sure was cute huh?

Then finally after the few games of catch phrase and then packing up all my things from the entire weekend, I basically zombie drove all the way home, made myself stay awake until 8:45 then went straight to bed for work in the morning. WOW!

*Check my pics link for lots more Easter Pics!*

Hawaiian Word of the Week

Ok...so i have been a little slack this month with the Hawaiian vocab--so sorry, sometimes life is just plain busy, ya know?

Anyway, our new word (actually words) is chicken skin. Definition: goose bumps, especially when afraid or frightened.

I think this one is pretty funny. Derived to describe the tingly feeling you get when something scary or moving is happening, it basically is just their word for goose bumps.

The classroom i have been working in the past 3 weeks is seriously the coldest place i have ever had to suffer sitting through. I really don't have warm enough clothes with me here to make it through some days in that room. And although slightly out of context from what it was originally meant, the locals do not really use the phrase "chill bumps" at all, so when you are cold, you get chicken skin. So it would be safe to say that throughout today, i had blue toes, a numb nose and perma chicken skin. And geez, do i hate being cold!