My Favorite Wedding Picture...

The Crash of 2011

So, my computer crashed.  I thought I had removed all of the virus from my computer, but come to find out I did not.  Also, according to the NEX computer hospital, my hard drive needs to be replaced.  When I tried to get on the computer Saturday night (yes, I didn't get on my computer all Saturday because we were doing stuff- be shocked) the mouse was stuck in the center of the screen.  Very irritating.  So, no pictures uploaded this weekend for my Photo365 project and no blog updates on my foods I've been making or pictures of our project!  We got SO MUCH done this weekend... we refurbished our TV stand from the Airman's Attic- which was a lot more involved than the dresser we did.

We also received our wedding pictures in the mail/  My mother-in-law took them (she is a really talented photographer) and they look amazing!  I plan on posting more of them when I have time, and I know a lot of family reads this- so keep checking for them.  I will also be mailing them out as soon as I get the chance, which may not be till closer to or after Christmas.  I'm going to be pretty busy in the coming weeks trying to get all the Christmas gifts out so they can make it to every ones house before Christmas as well as cooking and baking up a storm for the holiday season!

Here are a couple wedding picture teasers...

Home Projects: The Dresser

Since we aren't getting much of our furniture shipped here, we are slowly acquiring bits and pieces of our furniture.  The Hickam Airman's Attic has been an AWESOME benefit for us so far in building up our house.  I put a few items on a "Wish List" at the Attic and we got a call last weekend that we had a dresser and a futon available for pickup.  While we were there, we also found a file cabinet, which I am really excited about!  Anyway, we decided to paint the dresser black and get pretty drawer pulls for it.  I'm so excited to be able to use it!  Here is our project in pictures...

the "BEFORE" picture
(which I forgot to take before we took drawers and knobs out)

doin' a little sandin'
(sand paper: $1.97 on sidewalk sale at the NEX)

Doesn't he look serious when he is working?
(spray paint: 2 cans $1.37 ea + 1 can $0.9 7)

new drawer handles
(10 @ $1.57 ea + 10% military discount)

total cost for brand new bedroom dresser:

$21!!!

Project featured on the following linkup parties:

 

 

 

ONE MONTH! anniversary

We've been married one month today!

Look what my sweet husband left for me to find when I got up this morning...

The note says "For My Amazingly Wonderful Wife XOXOXOXO"

I love Haribo gummy bears!

And my amazingly wonderful husband!

Monday Medusozoa

Periphylla or The Helmet Jelly

• Probably one of the most common or the most common deep sea jellyfish!
• These jellyfish use bioluminescence to fend off predators!
• The periphylla also avoids light!

Geckos Galore

I love finding Geckos!

We see at least a couple of them a day on windows or ceilings.  This little guy crawled out of my coupon notebook tonight when I picked it up from the kitchen counter.  I accidentally cut his tail off with my fingernail while I was attempting to pick him up to bring him outside.  Lucky for him, it will grow back!

Our First Christmas!

Now that Halloween is over, and our busy hectic life is slowing down (kind of maybe?), I'm starting to get excited about Christmas!  Although we more than likely won't have our "things" here, including our Christmas decorations and ornaments, I am excited about the gifts that we're getting for our family and decorating our currently empty home!  I also found a PERFECT gift for Levus that he is going to L-O-V-E and I am already bursting at the seams to give it to him!  We were originally talking about going to stay at Bellows or another little military retreat area on the island, but I'm thinking that might not be in the cards anymore. 

Which leads me to other news.  We found out that FOR SURE we will only be able to ship 2,500lbs from the mainland to the island.  Each additional pound is somewhere in the neighborhood of $1-$1.50 per pound.  I wish I had some kind of idea of how much our things really weighed so I could figure out exactly how much of the furniture we have that we can send.  Right now my first order of business is to find a couch on Craigslist.  I don't want to spend too much, but I do want a "nice" set.  Furniture here seems to fly fast, so I will probably have to spend a good part of the next couple of days with my eyes peeled.  Luckily someone from my husbands shop has a truck that they are really kind enough to let us borrow frequently!  Although we have access to the Airman's Attic, since we will be living with this furniture for until we someday decide to buy better furniture, I would like to be picky about what we get.  We have been surviving for the last few weeks with just camping chairs in our living room and a bed upstairs, so if we have to fill our house piece by piece with furniture I don't mind.  The main concern with Levus is a couch so we can lounge when we watch movies together in the living room.

Are you getting excited about Christmas yet?  Do you have any special plans for the holiday this year?  What special gift do you have planned for a loved one?

Mahalo, Y'all

Before I even moved to Hawai'i I was so excited to find that there was a pumpkin patch here.  I've only been to a pumpkin patch a few times, and I was so excited to get the opportunity to have the chance to go to one here.  Unfortunately, things are not always as they appear.

We drove up to the pumpkin patch and I had immediate excitement.  The view really is beautiful, I mean who regularly gets to go to a pumpkin patch in between Hawaiian mountains and an ocean?

Much to my surprise (although this really shouldn't have surprised me), pumpkins DON'T grow in Hawai'i.  Although there were a few (the literal meaning of "few") real pumpkins growing on the vine, the rest of the "patch" was merely ground with pumpkins shipped in from California (boxes lying just to the side of the field) that are placed on the field.  The "country" setting was completed with the old fashioned "farmers stand" comprised of the sales of smaller pumpkins, inauthentic cornbread, "Halloween mix" (popcorn and candycorn in a mason jar), and real old-fashioned lemonade (which is water with lemons in a mason jar).  The most country thing there was a sign as you were leaving that said "Mahalo Y'all".  After having my only hope of a fall experience deteriorate quickly upon seeing the "pumpkin patch", and spending $20 for pumpkins that could have been purchased at the Commissary for $6, this sign did nothing but anger me.

I recognize that I do live in Hawai'i, and it is truly AWESOME here... but I am a little sad about the lack of fall.  Because I left Missouri in the summer time and it is still (and will continue to be) summer time in Hawai'i, I'm having this weird feeling that time has stopped in the mainland and it is still summer.  It is mentally difficult for me to believe that there are snow storms occurring throughout the country.

We did have a fun time at the pumpkin patch.  We were together, and it is beautiful Hawai'i.  It is a lesson that I've been able to learn early, we might not always have the feeling of home but we have our new experiences to help us through those lost feelings!