Oh blog....

I have been neglecting you, sweet blog, and for that I am sorry.

Hey everyone! Just wanted to let y'all know I'm still alive! I've been spending alot of time with school and Kevin lately, and have been too tired at night to blog. We are doing alright though! I do have a few pictures I want to share with everyone documenting what we have been up to lately!
Since I last blogged, we have celebrated Thanksgiving (we went to the lovely Sarah's house and had a fantabulous dinner! (I forgot to bring my camera and take pictures, sorry!) ) and celebrated Kevins birthday!

I got him this for the PS3, along with a ginormous strategy guide! Boy does he love it too!

Seriously, he plays that game for hours. I have mostly been just going to the gym and Kevin has been working. We havent even gone to the beach since my in laws left back in October! We have been real homebodys lately. Last weekend, however, we tried something new and went scuba diving for the first time ever!

                                                                      "Under the sea,
                                                                      Under the sea,
                                                                     
                                                                       Darling it's better,
                                                                      Down where it's wetter,
                                                                      Take it from me.
                                                                     
                                                                      Up on the shore they work all day,
                                                                      Out in the sun they slave away,
                                                                     
                                                                      While we devotin',
                                                                      Full time to floatin',
                                                                      Under the sea..."

 Let me just say that at first it was REALLY weird, but then I got used to it and it was super fun! I did get a little nauseous when we got out of the water and were leaving, but it didnt stick around too long. Kevin and I definitely want to try scuba diving again!!

Other than that, we have been just taking it day by day. I'm thinking of switching up the name of this blog, so if you suddenly see a different name on it, thats why! Now that school is out for the next 2 weeks, I will have some time to redesign this blog and refresh it a little! Kevin and I aren't going home for Christmas this year, and heck, we didnt even put up any decorations either! We just havent been in the Christmas spirit lately because of the whole infertility thing and the fact that we are trying to get our savings account back on track so shopping is non existent this year!
I am going to wrap this up, as I have to go over a zumba routine that I am giving tomorrow morning to Kevins platoon! Wish me luck, it should be a blast (and my first time teaching--AHHHH!!). I sure hope they like the songs!

I do want to wish you guys a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year though!!


See you soon!

A much overdue update

Sorry I havent been blogging much--er, at all! I really havent felt like saying much. I'm having a hard time dealing with infertility and have been keeping to myself (aside from the occasional visits with Annie :) ). I hope you guys dont take offense to this, but I've gotten to the point where I dont even want to be around even friends that have kids or are pregnant, it's just too damn depressing. I am hoping I come out of this funk soon, because its not fair to them....not to mention I feel like a horrible friend. This is definitely a low point in our lives, and it sucks...alot. It's a hard thing to go through, and I dont wish it on my worst enemies.
Since I last blogged, I did have a pretty good sized positive thing happen....I have gone back to school! I am now well on my way to finishing my much awaited and anticipated degree in History and I am excited to complete the program! Then its off to grad school.......... :)
Kevin is still non deployable, but instead of not deploying at all, the MEB is underway and he is considered a "late deployer"--which means he is definitely going to the middle east, we just dont know when yet. There is some good news about that though--he has been selected to be a platoon sergeant on Rear D, which is great because when promotion time comes up, he will have platoon sergeant time in (this is a good thing--you want to have that under your belt!), which gives him a better chance of being selected for promotion!
Hmm, what else.....
I celebrated (well, I'm not overly excited about it) my 31st birthday at the beginning of this month!
I've been going to the gym ALOT lately--even more than usual--and I'm still feeling pretty good! I did have a week where my hip wouldn't stop *painfully* popping, but off course after xrays were done it felt better. Go fig... Anyway, I have had to modify down a few times, but I've still been able to make it in and make it through class.
Kevin is almost back to his pre surgery self! He has been doing more PT and running more. I still have a hard time getting him to go to the gym with me, but in recent days its because he recieved his birthday present (the new Elder Scrolls Skyrim game for the PS3) and has been ridiculously occupied with it. I dont mind, though, I just love having him home :)
I will say, though, that he did go to the gym with me not this past Wednesday, but last Wednesday, and not only came with me, but PARTICIPATED in his very first step class!!! He did really good, too! He didnt give up and he didnt quit-- I was INSANELY proud of him!!!
Other than that, we have hung out with our friends Annie and Allen a few times, but have been mostly keeping to ourselves.
Last night, I had the awesome experience of seeing the midnight release of Breaking Dawn Part 1! We got to the theater around 5, watched Eclipse at 915, then Breaking Dawn at 12. I LOVED it, and it was worth the wait! I cant wait til part 2!!!! Kevin didnt go with us because he had to work really early this morning, but I'm thinking of talking him into going sometime next week :).  So thats whats happening in our neck of the woods.
Before I go, I wanted to share one of the many pictures our friend Annie took of us a couple of weeks ago! She's super talented. and we loved the way they came out!!

So I shared a couple... heehee. We loved them all though :)

Thats it for now, I hope you guys are doing good! I've missed blogging!!

Holy Crap!

It's been almost a month (gasp!) since I have posted! Getting the house ready for the in laws' vacation out here consumed WAY more time than I thought it would! Then, while they were here, I barely had any time to get on the computer, plus I was wiped out by the end of the day everyday! We did a whole lot while they were here, and we had a blast! Well, except for my EVO breaking (I have ended my 7 year relationship with Sprint because of it). Now that the family has left, and I have gotten back into my daily routine, I *should* be blogging more! I have a TON of pictures from the vacation that I still have to upload and edit, but soon I will give a daily synopsis of the adventures we had during our vacation! It may take a while, but I will post! I hope you guys are doing well, and I will do my best to keep up with the blogging :)
For now though, I have got to go to the grocery store....

Stopping in....

...to let y'all know I'm okay!!! I just havent had much time to blog lately, as we are preparing for the in-laws to come out here! I do have some pictures from the last week, as well as goings on, but I will try to get them uploaded tomorrow for you guys (hopefully I will have some time!)

Howdy folks!

It's been a few days since my last post! I figure since we have been here a year now and I'm running out of stuff to talk about (!), I will stop posting every day, and post every few days! Our weekend was really good, Kevin completed his test to get his boat license, so we can rent boats out at the Marine Corps base now! We have already booked a boat during the week the inlaws are here (less than 2 weeks away!!). We are so excited to show them the sandbar--its really a beautiful place to hang out on a sunny day!! I was going to take pictures of Kevin driving the boat and getting his certification, but a ton of registered people showed up and I was bumped from the boat :( Its all good, I went over to the exchange and perused the aisles!
We were going to head to the beach after Kevin did his boat thing, but it was raining.....everywhere on the island!!! This normally doesnt happen--at least one side of the island is sunny usually. So we just decided to head home and hang out. On Sunday, we went to the swap meet at Aloha Stadium for the first time! We walked around for a couple of hours, and ended up buying a floppy hat for Kevin and me! I didnt get a picture of the hat yet, but when I do, I will post it!. It was FINALLY nice down at Hickam, so we headed down to the beach for a couple of hours, working on our tans! We came home and Kevin cooked us a wonderful steak dinner!
I went to step class yesterday morning (which I was late to--not because I left the house late, but because of the ridiculous amounts of traffic..grrr took me over a half an hour to get to the gym, whereas it normally takes me less than 15 minutes. Blah), and did some housework. I am starting to prepare for our guests to arrive, so my house projects will be consuming me for the next couple of weeks! I didnt go to zumba last night, mostly because I was running off of 3 hours of sleep the night before. I was in bed and sleeping before Kevin-- a rarity in our house!
Anyway, today I got the yard mowed. The grass is starting to grow back in, but there are tons of huge dirt spots and tons of weeds, so I'm calling housing tomorrow to see if I can plant some grass back there and actually have a decent looking yard!
I will continue updating every few days or so, so dont worry mom, I'm okay!!!
See y'all soon!!

Happy Aloha Friday!

Nothing much to report today, so its going to be a short post! I went to step class this morning, and sadly had to modify down ALOT. I will be taking it easy this weekend for sure! I got some serious housework done, and next week I will begin preparing for our guests to arrive!
We had a pretty normal day, except for the fact that we ate dinner at Dennys for the first time in a looonnnng time! The ones in Va are just bad, so we were hesitant to try one here. Thankfully, the resteraunt here was AMAZING, and their staff is really great! Kevin and I stuffed ourselves silly. Now we are fat and happy and ready for bed LOL
Tomorrow, Kevin is taking a course to get certified to operate the pontoon boats they have at the Marine Corps base, so we can take the in-laws out to the sandbar (the place we went 4th of July and Labor Day). We are really excited to show them how beautiful it is out there! Anyway, after the course, we are going to head down to the beach (not sure which one yet), and I'm going to get my bronze on, baby!
I hope everyone has a safe, fun weekend!!!

Playing catch-up

Sorry for my lack of blogging the last few days, friends! I just really didnt feel like being on the computer much. I did promise you guys pictures from the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers run last Sunday, so here ya go!!

Before the race

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The Patriot Guard bikes--they wrapped all the way around the corner-- they're super supportive!! Thanks, guys and gals!! :)

Aaaaannnnd they're off!!!! The middle shirtless kid came in 3rd!

This little guy was just waving the flag with such enthusiasm--I just had to capture it!!!

Leading the pack!

He came back up the hill first--amazing!!!

Gooooo #692!!! (Pssst...thats Kevin!) This was his first real run since the surgery and he came in at juuuuuust over 30 minutes--so proud of him!!! :)

This awesome guy had on a full ruck...and ran the whole thing! Outstanding job, sir!!! :)

These folks prove that teamwork conquers everything--they sang cadence and ran together the whole race!

Our friends the Alsup's!! Great run, guys!!!

I'm not sure why this photo rotated itself again. Anyway, there were SEVERAL local firefighters who ran this race in full gear to honor their brother Stephen Siller. I'm really proud of these guys!

Let me just say that it was really hot out that morning, and some of these guys ran this race in FULL GEAR. I'm amazed at these guys and gals, and what they do day in and day out. The race was a huge success, and Kevin and I were honored to be a part of this wonderful event!

On to current events!! Yesterday, I had an appointment with my PCM (primary care manager aka family doctor), who put in a referral to OB/GYN (so they can refer us to Reproductive Endocrinology), Orthopedics (for my dumb hip), and the spine doctor (to check my harrington rods and make sure they are still in place correctly). I did get some xrays of my hip that day as well. I took yesterday and this morning off from the gym because my hip was really bothering me. This afternoon, Kevin met with the ENT department to discuss his upcoming surgery. Yes, he will be having more surgery, probably in the January time frame after the unit has left for their deployment. I will talk more about that at another time though. I did make it to zumba class tonight, and while my hip was still sore, it wasnt unbearable and I made it through class just fine.

Tomorrow, I have step class in the morning, then some major housecleaning in the afternoon (and maybe some zumba thrown in there ;) )
Good night everybody!!!

Mondays ramblings

I havent really had a chance to edit pictures from yesterday, so I will post tomorrow morning on the Tunnel to Towers 5K.
Today, I managed to make it to step class AND Zumba! I spent the afternoon doing some research as part of our TTC journey. I also spent about an hour and a half in the yard, watering the grass. *sigh* I'm going to try to water it 2 times a day because its been so dry here and my grass is dying!!! I hope I can save it!
Anyway, step class was awesome, we did alot of squats and lunges (which focuses on one of my big problem areas, yay!), and I'm convinced I was the only one in the class that really enjoyed that part LOL. I also worked on "the guns" heehee. I'm starting to get some definition in my arms, which rocks!
Zumba class was equally awesome, especially since my shake it partner in crime, Annie, was there!!
Now that I'm back home, I'm pretty tired, and this post is nothing but rambling lol
I will probably have 2 posts tomorrow, but definitely one tomorrow morning!!
Good night folks!

A whole year! *Part 2*

I know that everyone is posting something to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the attack at the World Trade Center (as well as the Pentagon and the site of the crash in that Pennsylvania field), so I will say a few words. The event itself still gets me upset, and I wanted to do something to help remember the victims, so I volunteered for the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers 5k this morning, which honors the bravery of Mr Siller, a NY Firefighter who ran (in full gear) from the Brooklyn Tunnel to the world trade center to help out his fellow brothers and sisters at ground zero. He had to run from the tunnel because the traffic was at a standstill and he was originally on his way home from his overnight shift when the call came in about the planes hitting the towers. Mr Siller perished on 9/11, as did many of his brothers and sisters in the department. This race is celebrated all over the country, benefitting families of our servicemen and women and firefighters/police/EMT's, and I thought it was fitting to volunteer for such an amazing cause! I had a wonderful time taking pictures and cheering people on!! I will have more on that event tomorrow!

Now, without further ado.....
*This post is continued from yesterday*

Ahh, where did I leave off?? Oh yes, I remember! I finished up the major photographed events up until the end of August, and I was going to add random pictures of things we have done throughout our first year here.

The pictures from the first few days of September can be found in my recent posts! :)


Lets see.....Kevin had never went snorkeling before we arrived here and I was excited to show him how fun it was! Unfortunately, the first snorkel gear that we bought was defective, so our first first trip out snorkeling ended in an epic fail (This was at Hanauma Bay). Thankfully, we ended up purchasing some really great equipment later, and now he really loves snorkeling!

Not the best pic, but it was his first time! :)

Being the rock climbing enthusiast that he is, Kevin quickly made some friends in the jeeping world, and soon after we got here, we went rock climbing in the mountains!

Here's Betty Jeep at a place called Peacock Flats

We also made a vow to be more outdoorsy, since Hawaiis climate allows us to be outside year round! We made another trip up to Peacock Flats--not to rock climb, but to camp!!

The views were amazing!

Here are some more awesome things we have done!
Right after we arrived here, we made it a point to visit Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial

 We sampled some more beaches!

Sunset Beach--the North Shore

Bellows beach, near Waimanalo state park

 We visited Dole Plantation, which is right up the road from where we live!

Goofing off in the giant maze

No trip to Dole Plantation would be complete without Dole Whip, a yummy pineapple ice cream treat!

 We (well I) grab some delicious shave ice (a local favorite here!) every time we go up to the north shore!

The best place on the whole island to get shave ice!!!

We visited a real Buddhist temple

We have also gone on several hiking adventures!!

This was our most recent hiking adventure up the Diamond Head crater!

 While here, I have developed an unhealthy obsession with taking photos of the local flowers!

 Yeah, those were just a few. I have a flower picture taking problem. Kevin will agree lol

We have also eaten at the famous Haleiwa (North Shore) Shrimp Trucks! They have delicious food, by the way!!

We (well I, again lol) have sampled some of the popular local mix drinks :)

Mai Tais and College football--can it get any better??

Speaking of college football, another big adjustment for us was getting used to the fact that college football comes on as early as 6am here!!! Eep!!
So those are just a few of the little adventures we have gotten into since arriving on island. We are hoping to do alot more here this coming year :)

Tomorrow, I will be posting pictures from the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers 5K that we did today. I took a ton of pictures, and I have to go through them all! Kevin did great though!! He did the run in 30 minutes, which is great for his first time out jogging since the surgery. Way to go, love!!!
I will also be heading back to the gym tomorrow morning (to work off all of the calories I consumed this weekend--I'm not proud of the amount of little debbie snack cakes I ate). See yall tomorrow!!!