Thursday, November 29, 2012

Waihee Falls

   Mike and I went on a little hike walk called the Waihee Falls. Its a easy gravel road leading up to a beautiful waterfall.

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Now, there was another (not as big) waterfall called Hamama Falls along this hike but its a little difficult to find. After retracing our steps back the way we came, we were suppose to turn off the main road onto a muddy not so prominent path near a certain tree. I'm pretty sure we found that tree but it really looked like we could definitely get lost out there. I think it would be smart to do this hike with someone that actually knows were they are going. I really don't want to take the chance of having to call the rescue squad while getting eaten alive by misquotes.

Help Question?

   Hi lovely people. I just have a quick question about this here little blog, and who better to ask. So I came across a problem when I went to upload photos. Its telling me that I have run out of space and can no longer upload and in order to continue I will have to pay every month for more file space. I'm just wondering it there is any tricks to get around this or does everyone pay for their blog monthly and this is just a normal thing? 

Monday, November 26, 2012

Christmas Story House

  In honor of this wonderful holiday that is coming so quickly, I thought I would share with you the time that I toured the home of the best Christmas movie of all time.

   Even though the movie says that Ralphie and his family live in Chicago it really was filmed in a small town 30 minutes away from my house in Cleveland called Tremont. 2 years ago around Christmas time my mother and I made the drive down to see it. This home is in the middle of a residential neighbor hood on a somewhat quite road.


   It was amazing how many people flocked here during Christmas time. Its open all year too so I'm sure they get people then also. You first come into the living room where there was a lady waiting to tell you absolutely everything there was to know about the filming. (You could really tell she loved her job.) After that you are free to roam through the house. They also only let in a few people at a time which is nice so you can actually see things up close without a swarm of people in front of you.









They did such a good job keeping everything in the home the same set up of the movie after they remodeled it.

     Around the block from the house they had a museum and a gift shop with everything you could ever think of that has to do with the movie. From the clothes that they wore to the actress Melinda Dillon who played the Ralphie's mom there to sign autographs. I definitely wish I would have taken more pictures while we were there.
   If anyone is ever in the area I definitely recommend stopping by. 

Friday, November 23, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving

    I love food, and this Thanksgiving was definitely full of it!
I prepared all of the "usual" courses that comes with the holiday. A few things that I have never made before (sweet potato casserole and green bean casserole) but it all turned out pretty well. The only thing I really had a problem with was keeping everything warm with only one oven. Once the turkey and ham were done I just shoved everything back in to try to warm it up again. I don't know how other people do it but for me it was pretty tricky.
  I definitely miss my mothers home cooking though. She makes everything taste so much better. This Christmas I am going to try to make more of  her style recipes but it probably still wont be the same.
   Thank goodness for her though. When Mike and I moved into our home back in Ohio, she gave me all of these amazing bowls and dishes that I just love. Instead of this meal being prepared in throw away tinfoil containers, I was actually able to have a "nice looking" setup. Thanks mom!


   My favorite part of the meal. You just can never have enough sweets.


   After the night was over, Mike, myself and one of Mikes friends headed out for Black Friday. I really wasn't feeling up to shopping, which is totally not like me but because I was up at 7:00am cooking ALL day and drank a little throughout the day and night so it just didn't feel as appealing as my bed. It was just hard to keep from yawning every 2 minutes while standing in lines. We went to 3 different places and got lots of unnecessary stuff that we didn't really need. My plan is always to shop for gifts for Christmas and instead we buy everything that we want to keep for our selves. Mike bought things to fill up his toolbox (tools) and a air compressor, which will be pretty handy because the air in my tires just doesn't want to stay in. We also purchased the new Kindle Fire which is pretty sweet and a few other things too. I did end up getting one gift out of the way which is a good feeling to check off the list. Standing in line for 50min just dragged the sleepiness out even more. I was ready to go to bed! 3:30am we were back home.
   I was pretty surprised at Oahu's Black Friday. I wasn't expecting the crowds to be the way that they were. For some reason I thought because we live on a island things would be a little more calm, but I should know better. People on this island are just as crazy as everyone on the mainland about sales. 

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Old School

   Calling Cleveland home and hearing that a music group from there was coming to Hawaii it was a must that we bought tickets to see them. Even though they are "older" now, they brought back a lot of memories for me.
  I have been to many concerts in my day so far and I have to say that this was the best one I had ever seen! We were coming here thinking that they were going to sing one or two old school songs and the rest was going to be their new stuff because they have a new CD coming out. We were totally wrong. They sang All old and we LOVED it!
20 years after they first came out.....Bone Thugs and Harmony

 
 They put on such a great show!!!
I still love some good old school rap.  In my eyes this is what rap sounds like, not all this new stuff that's out there now. 

Too bad once again my camera sucks! I think its time to chalk it up and start bringing my big bulky one everywhere.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Birthday Ball

   The Marine Corps was 237 years old on the 10th and we celebrated the day before.
   I don't really want to recap the whole night but lets just say we had a great time. We left just a little after dinner to hit the town... I would have at least like to have danced one song with my husband but everyone we were with wanted to go. We changed at headed to one of our favorite places. 5 am rolled around and we were just walking into our house. We should know better! We are not that young anymore to be doing things like that and I also had to work the next day.



Don't mind the white spot on Mike. I didn't feel like scanning it so I just took a picture and this is what happens.


 

Final Game

   The Outlaws had their last game of the season last night. They lost their first playoff game meaning that's it for them. Mike says that he doesn't want to play next year so this was his last time putting on pads which is sad for him. Hes to busy at work to be getting up at 4:30am to get to practice and then only 8 people show up. The team really didn't take it seriously so I think it was frustrating for him because he loves the game so much. We will see how next year goes when football sign ups come around. He might change his mind.
   They have been having their games 30 min away at Camp Smith because for some weird reason they decided to re-do the football field on KBay during football season.? This was my first time heading out there to watch because I was always working when they played. It was such a beautiful view of the city. I wish I had my better camera.


    It was so much prettier then what my camera is making it out to be.
At least his last game was a good game. It was neck and neck for most of it and he made some really good plays. I'm just glad that I don't have to wash his dirty smelly gear anymore.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Beach Time with Bolo

   Bolo and I went for a little run today between a short break of clear sky's. We usually do our regular run path, but today I wanted to change it up a bit.
   Fort Hase was pretty ruff, but the breeze felt good with the relaxing crashing of the waves.

    He is still pretty iffy about swimming. I think this beach was definitely to ruff for him to feel comfortable.

   He still loves pouncing at the foam. My arm socket just loves it too.
  I think Bolo loves this island as much as I do.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Snorkeling

   Mike and I wanted to spend some relaxing time at the beach for this long holiday weekend. We were still recovering from the LONG ruff night from our ball, so it was nice to just sit.

  We went to one of the beaches on base call the Secret Beach. Its a small one with some really nice views.


Mike Snorkeling
   We saw just a few fish, it was pretty murky and once again my camera was acting up.

Dead Eel
This poor thing died because of a fishing line. It was wrapped around it neck.  :(

Pretty nice day for it to be November!

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Getting Ready for the Ball

*Warning* Disturbing images ahead.  

 Some of you have a pretty big night coming up this month. The Marine Corps Ball. The one night that you can get all dressed up looking your best in your long gown. (even though the night is really about your Marine). 
 These are my tips for looking perfect on that day!

1. Damage Color the Crap out of your Hair
I started coloring my hair around the age of 15, but I noticed around 23 that my parents genes started to kick in turning my hair gray, so I now will spend the rest of my life trying to cover it up. I do recommend going to salon to get this done. You wont make such a big mess and you will have a better outcome. But because I work at a salon and do NOT want to go in on my day off, I'm doing it at home.  Don't forget the eyebrows if they need to be helped as well.

2. Hair Mask
(Picture for 2, 3 &4) 
  Now that you ruined are one color (or several for those highlighted people) Apply your locks with a deep penetration conditioning mask. I love the It's a 10 product.

3. Get ride of those Stains
     Nobody like coffee stained teeth! Do all you can to get them shinny and white. (this is the first thing that I notice on a person when I fist meet them)

4. Clear your Skin
     If your like me, and it looks like you are going through puberty all the time, it is very necessary to dry out your face till the problem spots are suffocated.   

5.  Pedicure

 Make sure your toes are pretty even though your gown covers them. You don't want a slip up and people see your chipped gnarly piggies.

6.  De-Hair Yourself
 Make sure you have no lose hairs peeking out by your brows (or lip). Your makeup goes on so much better and your eyes look brighter when there is not a fuzz ball up there and they are neatly shaped.

7. Manicure
(no picture shown)
(I still have to go to work and I would be stupid to make them pretty and the moment I touch hair color all my hard work would go down the drain...they will look like my toes) 
    This is very important. You will be shaking people hands and holding a drink. People look at your claws so make them nice. Try to compliment your nails to your dress also. You don't want red nails with a purple dress.

8. Tan

My see through skin definitely needs a little of this. Living in Hawaii, its easy to get a nice glow but its a little more challenging not to have tan lines.

and the final step

8.  Make sure your dress is Perfect (shoes and jewelry)
     If you are like me and you had to have your dress altered, costing MORE then what the dress actually cost, you would think that they would have steamed it for you, but because they didn't think to do that to get a returning customer,  you now have to do it yourself.

*Now that you have seen me at my worse, (I feel bad for my husband) its your turn to follow the steps and make it a beautiful night.

Wordless Wednesday


Tuesday, November 6, 2012

30 day's of a potential divorce

  I came across this and thought I would share.
 
 When I got home that night as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and said, "I’ve got something to tell you."
 She sat down and ate quietly. Again I observed the hurt in her eyes.
Suddenly I didn't know how to open my mouth.
But I had to let her know what I was thinking.
"I want a divorce." I raised the topic calmly.

She didn't seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, "why"?
I avoided her question. This made her angry. She threw away the chopsticks and shouted at me,
"you are not a man!"
 That night, we didn't talk to each other. 

She was weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage.

 But I could hardly give her a satisfactory answer; she had lost my heart to Jane. 
I didn’t love her anymore. I just pitied her!
With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could own
our house, our car, and 30% stake of my company.

She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces.
The woman who had spent ten years of her life with me had become a stranger.
I felt sorry for her wasted time, resources and energy but I could not take back what I had said for I loved Jane so dearly. Finally she cried loudly in front of me, which was what I had expected to see.
To me her cry was actually a kind of release.
The idea of divorce which had obsessed me for several weeks seemed to be firmer and clearer now.
The next day, I came back home very late and found her writing something at the table.
I didn't have supper but went straight to sleep and fell asleep very fast because
 I was tired after an eventful day with Jane.
When I woke up, she was still there at the table writing. I just did not care so I turned over and was asleep again.
In the morning, she presented her divorce conditions: she didn't want anything from me,
 but needed a month’s notice before the divorce.
 She requested that in that one month we both struggle to live as normal a life as possible.
Her reasons were simple: our son had his exams in a month’s time
and she didn't want to disrupt him with our broken marriage.
This was agreeable to me.
But she had something more, she asked me to recall how I had carried her into out bridal room
on our wedding day.

She requested that every day for the month’s duration I carry her out of our bedroom
 to the front door ever morning. I thought she was going crazy.
 Just to make our last days together bearable I accepted her odd request.
I told Jane about my wife’s divorce conditions.
 She laughed loudly and thought it was absurd.
No matter what tricks she applies, she has to face the divorce, she said scornfully.
My wife and I hadn't had any body contact since my divorce intention was explicitly expressed.
So when I carried her out on the first day, we both appeared clumsy.
Our son clapped behind us, "Daddy is holding mommy in his arms." His words brought me a sense of pain.
 From the bedroom to the sitting room, then to the door, I walked over ten meters with her in my arms.
 She closed her eyes and said softly; "Don’t tell our son about the divorce."
 I nodded, feeling somewhat upset. I put her down outside the door.
She went to wait for the bus to work. I drove alone to the office.
On the second day, both of us acted much more easily.
She leaned on my chest. I could smell the fragrance of her blouse. 
I realized that I hadn't looked at this woman carefully for a long time.
I realized she was not young any more.
There were fine wrinkles on her face, her hair was graying!
Our marriage had taken its toll on her. For a minute I wondered what I had done to her.
On the fourth day, when I lifted her up, I felt a sense of intimacy returning.
This was the woman who had given ten years of her life to me.

On the fifth and sixth day, I realized that our sense of intimacy was growing again.
 I didn't tell Jane about this. It became easier to carry her as the month slipped by.
Perhaps the everyday workout made me stronger.
She was choosing what to wear one morning. She tried on quite a few dresses but could not find a suitable one.
Then she sighed, "All my dresses have grown bigger."
 I suddenly realized that she had grown so thin, that was the reason why I could carry her more easily.
Suddenly it hit me… she had buried so much pain and bitterness in her heart.
Subconsciously I reached out and touched her head.
Our son came in at the moment and said, "Dad, it’s time to carry mom out."
 To him, seeing his father carrying his mother out had become an essential part of his life.
My wife gestured to our son to come closer and hugged him tightly.
 I turned my face away because I was afraid I might change my mind at this last minute.
 I then held her in my arms, walking from the bedroom, through the sitting room, to the hallway.
 Her hand surrounded my neck softly and naturally.
 I held her body tightly; it was just like our wedding day.
But her much lighter weight made me sad.
 On the last day, when I held her in my arms I could hardly move a step.
Our son had gone to school. I held her tightly and said, "I hadn't noticed that our life lacked intimacy".

I drove to office…. jumped out of the car swiftly without locking the door.
 I was afraid any delay would make me change my mind…I walked upstairs. Jane opened the door and I said to her, "Sorry, Jane, I do not want the divorce anymore."
She looked at me, astonished, and then touched my forehead. "
Do you have a fever?" She said. I moved her hand off my head.
"Sorry, Jane", I said, "I won’t divorce. My marriage life was boring probably because she and I didn't value the details of our lives, not because we didn't love each other anymore."
 Now I realize that since I carried her into my home on our
 wedding day I am supposed to hold her until death do us apart.

Jane seemed to suddenly wake up.
She gave me a loud slap and then slammed the door and burst into tears. I walked downstairs and drove away.
At the floral shop on the way, I ordered a bouquet of flowers for my wife. The salesgirl asked me what to write on the card. I smiled and wrote, "I’ll carry you out every morning until death do us apart."
That evening I arrived home, flowers in my hands,
a smile on my face, I run up stairs, only to find my wife in the bed – dead.

My wife had been fighting CANCER for months and I was so busy with Jane to even notice. She knew that she would die soon and she wanted to save me from the whatever negative reaction from our son, in case we pushed through with the divorce.– At least, in the eyes of our son— I’m a loving husband….
The small details of your lives are what really matter in a relationship.
 It is not the mansion, the car, property, the money in the bank.
These create an environment conducive for happiness but cannot give happiness in themselves.
 So find time to be your spouse’s friend and do those little things for each other that build intimacy.
 Do have a real happy marriage.
Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.
 
 

Sunday, November 4, 2012