Happy Halloween From Our Family To Yours!!!

Success!

Do you ever have days where you have SO many things to do, yet there seem to be setbacks and problems at every step of the way? That seems to be the case for Mike and I more times than not--and although we try to remain patient through whatever comes up--sometimes at the the end of the day when you realize hardly anything got accomplished that you wanted it can be VERY frustrating.

Well today, i just want to share, that we did in fact have a extremely successful day and everything that i have needed to get done has been accomplished and then some! I mean, no traffic, no lines, the first stores we stopped at had exactly what we needed, no rude/unhelpful city employees, no outrageous fees, EVERYTHING WAS PERFECT!

Here is our checklist for today: RED = Accomplished
1. Vote (no waiting lines)
2. Get Out-of State registration cards on base
3. Haircut on base
4. Register friends car at City Hall (they are so picky about signatures, dates and POA's because we are out of state--i have literally been sent away more times than not)
5. Find unmarked car storage office and drop off registration and insurance papers
6. Get Jeep Horn Fixed (which Mike has spent countless hours on, and finally decided he didn't want to waste anymore of his R&R time on)
7. Get Wireless Inet Fixed (so i don't have to bounce off the neighbors anymore)
8. Find and Install new water filter faucet (everywhere we go, they only have the white ones, and we need stainless steel)
9. Find receipts and turn in old car batteries for $
10. Close/Open new banking accounts (they haven't let me do this since Mike has been gone even though i DO have a ton of different POA's)
11. Find Comp. monitor cord--so we can hook it up to the old laptop
12. Get all of the files off of old laptop
13. Mail off 2 gifts
14. Hang up new shower curtain rod (the curved kind! this is something extra Mike is doing for me just because he knew i wanted it!)
15. Get showered and beautiful so we can go out on a date!

You may think this blog is somewhat silly, but to a girl who has been having much trouble with some of these things, i am so relieved/glad that these things are done and that we got them all accomplished in one day with no trouble so we can spend more time with each other doing the fun things....like tonight at our dinner and Cirque de Solei Saltimbanco date!

Rest and Relaxation Part 1

These first four days have been so wonderful. We haven't done anything super extraordinary, but we have had such a great time just being with each other that it really doesn't matter.

We quickly got back to all our old routines--even our midnight runs to Walmart and Wendy's for Frosties!

So far we have visited the new Aviation Museum on Ford Island, got pedicures (his poor feet sure needed some help after 10 months in boots), had a date night of dinner at my favorite Italian place and then a movie--Appaloosa, which we thoroughly enjoyed, rode the Trolley in Waikiki and ate at a yummy hotdog stand called Puka Dogs. Puka is the Hawaiian word for "hole". These dogs are in a bun with a hole in the center where they squirt in their special lemon garlic sauce and then one of their signature fruit relishes with a polish sausage dog. I know, sounds a bit sketchy...but they were surprisingly good! We had one Coconut and one Pineapple hotdog...yum!

Also, we have only made it to the beach once. We didn't stay long because Mike is SO WHITE...and i doused him in sunscreen using Hillary's rule of thumb if you can see it then it is working...but we forgot to put it on his legs...so although this back, chest, neck and ears are fine..the back of his legs are FRIED. I tried to get a picture, but he won't let me. So, needless to say we are giving the beach and his legs a rest! He even wore pants today in town so that people wouldn't see his legs and think he was a tourist!

Tomorrow is Sunday, church day, our favorite. I can't wait for him to get to see everyone there. The church has been such a great support to me while he has been gone, and each Sunday they never fail to ask about him and pray for him. Mike also hasn't been there since we split to 2 services and i started leading Children's Church, so I am excited for him to see what I am doing.

I have been super impressed with how well Mike has adjusted to the time. The past few days, he has slept normally, He was even staying up later than normal, while waking up early like he always used to. That is until tonight, he suddenly crashed at 7:30, hardly finishing dinner and he is definitely out for the night--which is why i am having time to write this blog! I was wondering how long his energy and excitement would last!

This next week we have plans to go camping for a few days at our favorite beach, which should be very relaxing. I will try to update again sometime near the end of the week. I have uploaded all our pics thus far to our pics website. The link is on the right hand side under our favs. Love to All!

Home Sweet Home

So, Mike's home and the first day has been great. Just wanted to post a pic from the airport. Check back in a couple of days and we will post a little on what we are doing. Thanks to everyone for all the kind words and wishes throughout the past few days!

Love, Us

LAST LEG!!

IT'S FINALLY HERE!!!!!!!!!



After not hearing anything for another 32 hours or so, i just got a call at 0330 HI time to tell me he is boarding a plane in Atlanta to Honolulu! I am now very, very excited and can not sleep.



YAY, MY HUSBAND IS ALMOST HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 10 HOURS TO GO!

Update

Okay. So finally after 48 hours Mike has called to let me know he is still waiting in a hanger in Kuwait. So far the trip has been a lot of missed planes and bumps for more important people and cargo--apparently a group of guys trying to get home for R&R is at the bottom of the totem pole. Anyway, he is hoping to get out of Kuwait in the next 12 hours or so. From there, he has another stop to make before Atlanta and then finally to HI. Projected time to arrive at the earliest will be Wed. night HI time.

This waiting around stuff is killing me! Prayers for a safe and quick journey are much appreciated!

Hopefully in Kuwait!

okay so i haven't heard anything so i am hoping that is good news because he is so busy catching flights and actually flying he doesn't have time to call.


So..here's my projection of where he's at...and maybe he's even somewhere between Kuwait and Atlanta--that would be even better!

He's Coming Home!!!

R&R is so close now... I can hardly stand it! I just got word Mike should be flying out of his base about 1am EST. He has another stop in country before heading to Kuwait. I will keep you updated! ~YAY~

Little Helper

Today I had a helper to fold my clothes...such a sweet boy!

8 Passengers Set Sail That Day, for a 4 Hour Tour, oh a 4 Hour Tour

This past weekend was Hillary's 26th birthday. A couple friend of ours, Laura and Adam, have their boat licence for the Kaneohe Marine Corps Base Marina, so we took out a pontoon boat around the bay and out to a sandbar for the afternoon. I have always heard about this opportunity but never actually gone and checked it out. We had a great time and now i have the "boat bug". So I am hoping to go get certified soon (preferably before Mike gets back for leave). It is way to beautiful out on the water and an awesome way to spend the day--i can't believe it took me 2.5 years to figure this out! So, sorry to all who have already visited...this is definitely on the list of things to take visitors to do now!

Anyway, we had a great day. It was good to spend time with the girls, all 5 of us hadn't been able to spend time together in a long while. It was good to catch up. Katie and Laura's husbands as well as Hillary's brother came too. They boys spent most of their time in the water playing.

Before heading back to the marina, we took a little detour around Coconut Island. This is where the opening scene and all of the long shots were filmed for Gilligan's' Island. Now the island is strictly a research center for the University of Hawaii and no one else is allowed on it.