big, fat, positive

All I could do was giggle. Nearly 11 years of being with James, 6 years of marriage, buying 2 homes, moving 14 times, gaining my bachelor's degree, experiencing the highs and lows of life and here we are.  Pure bliss.  Then fear.  Are we really ready?  Guess we're about to find out!  We have waited a long time for this chapter in our lives.  We've set goals, met them, then set more goals.  It's finally time.  Now a little person will be completely reliant on us.  That scares the crap out of me.  But we're ready to take on the challenge.  Cheers to parenthood!

Anticipation

I'm like a kid, it's ridiculous.  When a big event is approaching, I get so excited!  Whether it's a vacation, a trip to see family or family is coming to see us, a new job or a party, I cannot contain myself.  I start waking up way before my alarm goes off.  I am nauseous constantly.  I'm a mess.  Thankfully I've found ways to help tame these reactions or whatever you'd like to call them.  Though I would love to find a way to make them go away.  Any suggestions?

Hawaii here we come!

Two weeks of pure bliss were in our future and I could not wait!!!  Back in July, for my 30th birthday, Bill (a close family friend) gifted James and I to a trip to any place we requested.  With James and I being the avid cruisers and our family trip to Hawaii been postponed, there was no doubt it my mind where we would be headed.  Within no time, our trip was booked and my lists of what to do and what to pack were started!  The trip was phenomenal.

Our cruise started with 4 days at sea. Plenty of time at the pool, tons of naps, trivia and food that stuffed us to the brim.  Somehow we were coerced into participating in the Survivor challenge; one of the ship's many contests that they have on board.  Fairly certain this was due to our youth in relationship to the majority of the other cruise passengers.  We watched lots of movies and read a few books.  Just our kind of conversation.  No cleaning, no cooking, no alarm clocks!

Next it was time to play.  Our arrival to the islands was magnificent.  The weather was perfect.  Not a drop of rain while we were there.  Plenty of time to work on our tans and explore the islands.

First on our stop was the Big Island.  We rented a jeep, immediately took the top off and headed to the Volcanoes National Park.  Our plan was to spend about 3 hours here but we ended up spending nearly 6 hours here.  Pictures do not capture the massive scenery that one is exposed to.  We drove a little further out to a black sand beach.  Such a pleasant surprise, there was a sea turtle sunbathing.  We nearly missed him, he/she blended in to the sand so well.

Lava tube

Steam vent

 

Crater at Volcanoes National Park

Sea turtle sunbathing at the black sand beach

On to our next day of events.  The island of Oahu.  We were up early and headed to Pearl Harbor.  We decided to go through the cruise line so we could be off the ship bright and early.  Plus, if you are familiar with Pearl Harbor, there can be a two hour wait to get on to the memorial.  The cruise ship gets the tickets for you early in the morning which means a minimal wait once you arrive.  We took a little tour around downtown then toured the USS Bowfin (submarine) before our time to head to the memorial.  Though this is a major tourist stop, it definitely jerks your emotions.  After our visit to the memorial, we made a brief stop at the battleship Missouri then headed back to the ship.  In no time, we were headed to Paradise Cove for a traditional Hawaiian luau.  Just as I had imagined.  Beautiful!  Quite the place if you are looking for a luau on Oahu.

Luau with the love of my life!

Hawaiian sunset

Pearl Harbor Memorial

USS Arizona

Our visit to Kauai wasn't quite as planned but it was our favorite island.  Probably because of what we did?  Regardless, I'm ready to go back!  We were planning to rent a jeep and head out for some exploring.  Unfortunately it was incredibly difficult to find the shuttle to the car rental location and the taxi drivers were looking for tour passengers rather than our short trip.  So we hopped on a shuttle to the town right up the street, walked around the shops and then headed back to the ship.  We found a taxi driver, who was amazing, and took us to Kipu Ranch for our ATV tour.  Four hours of fun!  Plenty of history about the property we were on.  It's private land so not the easiest to get on.  As with many parts of Kauai, there were tons of movies/shows that have been filmed on the property.  We had an outstanding time.

This five year old (note the floaties) showed us all up on the rope swing!

James didn't listen to me about wearing his swim trunks -

so he took a dip in his boxers :)

Our lunch spot - the cat eats anything you don't (including lettuce)

If you look closely, there are several piglets 

Peacocks on our ATV tour

The last island on our itinerary was Maui.  We were off the ship bright and early, only to hop on another boat and head to the Molokini crater for some snorkeling.  This wasn't quite what I expected but I still had fun.  James was feeling a little under the weather so he didn't spend much time in the water.  The magnificent part of this trip - the humpback whales.  I would say we saw at least 15.  Beautiful creatures!  We were even able to see two babies.  On our way back to the ship, we made a second snorkeling stop where sea turtles are often at.  They were certainly there!  I was a bit timid on swimming with these creatures so I stayed on the boat.  Thankfully there were plenty that surfaced and so I was content.

Submarine (fast attack) that was near our ship in Maui

We then headed home.  Another several days of complete relaxation.  We made a quick stop at Ensenada.  Just enough time for James and I to grab some tacos.  Mmmmm, mmmm good.

The bar crew that completed our trip!

Hawaii was quite the success!  Another check off my 101 list along with the best vacation of my life!

Happy New Year!

…and happy new decade! 2010 has been quite the ride! I am looking forward to 2011 more than ever. When I turned 30, I decided that it would be the best year of my life --- and I’m well on the way to that being the case. We’re beginning a new journey at church called the Decade of Destiny which I am so excited about that I could just burst. We’ll be focusing on our health, finances, minds, talents and relationships. So many of these goals tie into things that I plan on doing in the year 2011. Not so much New Year’s resolutions but life-long changes that I plan to make.

In 2010, I started a new job that I absolutely love, I saw the end of my father’s estate, I had the most amazing 30th birthday party, we paid off all of our credit card debt and just yesterday we received an acceptance on an offer to purchase a home. In 2011 we are looking forward to starting a small group at our new home, going to Hawaii, spending more quality time with our families near and far, stretching our financial goals and so much more!

Cheers to a new year and a new decade!

Another check off the list #20

Notice a little change in the picture above?  I didn't go dark brown but I made the switch.  I'm liking it.  Now the decision if I'll stick to the brown or add highlights come summer.  Time will tell!

Thanksgiving 2010

I love spending holiday's with family but who doesn't?  We packed up our bags this year, full of long underwear and sweatshirts and headed to South Dakota.  Brrrrrrr.  Thankfully the snow stayed away until the day we headed home.  The cold weather, on the other hand, was there to stay.

Mom and Maury live out in the middle of no where.  This is my kind of vacation.  Sleeping in, playing games, chatting the day away and LOTS of home cooked meals by Mom.  This trip was a little different when it comes to food though.  We had goose stew, pheasant tacos, deer steak and more.  The only thing I did not care for was the deer liver and heart.  Thankfully that was not the entree of the night.

James found a new hobby....hunting.  I cannot even describe how much he enjoyed this testosterone-filled activity.  Even more exciting is that he shot a deer and a couple of pheasant.  Not too shabby for his first week giving the sport a go.  Oh and I had the pleasure of helping clean this stuff.

The down side of the trip is there was a stomach bug circulating.  Just about everyone in the house got a touch of it or the full on thing.  Somehow Mom, Sheridan and I seemed to stay clear.  Shew!

Here's a few pictures.  Unfortunately I did a terrible job keeping my camera out, and the pictures I did take weren't too great.  Oh well.  Something is better than nothing.

Uncle James 

BB from a pheasant 

Getting ready to clean the pheasant 

James pheasant's --- he's recovering from the stomach bug so he doesn't look so hot.  Mick, Maury's hunting dog wouldn't smile for the picture.  He deserves lots of credit for the phesant hunting!

James first deer :)

Sigh of Relief

Today the court approved the final accounting and distribution of my dad's estate.

And a new chapter begins.  When we are children, we think the world is going to crumble if our parents don’t let us have ice cream after dinner. The obstacles continue as we get older – and then become progressively more difficult. Moving to Ohio as a teenager and struggling to pay bills – therefore finding comfort in a piece of plastic and then climbing our way out of debt. Learning to function as a military spouse – the lonliness of deployments and pressures from a boss that will have his way no matter your justification for what is more logical. I could keep going. But the past two years have been, by far, the most difficult. My Father died. I could be selfish and say that I wish he had fallen ill so I had the chance to say goodbye and so he would have had the opportunity to get his assets in order. Though I got to say goodbye. Just not in a sad or mourning way. Instead I got to walk a few miles with him every morning, cook dinner while constantly avoiding chicken – it wasn’t his favorite – so we ate steak at least twice a week, operate his business together – hand in hand, him teaching me to be a better wife – taking my hubby cheese, crackers and a beer before dinner, sharing stories about his experiences as an engineer and my favorite, baking all sorts of yummy things – pies, cookies, banana pudding.  My Dad made me feel like a saint when it comes to making dessert. (Someday I’ll attempt his famous cheesecake.)  Quickly after my Dad passed away all hell broke loose. I could moan and groan about the last 23 months. I could explain the chain of events. I could explain the spite of an individual who is biologically a relation to me.  Instead I have decided to thank my AMAZING husband, sister-in-law, mother, brother and each and every friend. You have been the ears to listen. You have been the backbone when I wanted to waver. You have been the shoulder or the ear on the other end of the phone line when I am crumbling. Thank you. Thank you for your strength. I promise to be there when you need me. Because I’ve used more than my share of emotional and physical support over the past year. Thank you. Mike and Kristi are strangers to me. As I am a stranger to them. Based on the past 23 months, we’ll never know one another. My only explanation to their actions, Mike in particular, is his desire to punish our Father by expressing hatred towards me. I’ve approached everything as fairly, morally and ethically strong as I possibly could. I hope that Mike and Kristi have found the peace in their hearts to put their relationship with our Father behind them. I am incredibly lucky to be able to place my relationship with my Dad in front of me and know that I have made him proud and I will continue to make him proud.  It’s time for my energy to be on the future. Today marks the end of the Estate. A new chapter begins.