Our redecorated house

This post is specifically for you, Mom. The stager came this morning and spruced up our place for the open house tomorrow. It looks good, but just seems like a model home that we can't really live in. Here are some pictures -

Coming in the front door Looking into the living room
Your new bedroom :)
The dining room
The spare "bedroom"
Our baby after a hard day

We have our orders for Germany!

We finally received our orders yesterday. It seems unreal that we actually have the papers that authorize our move to Germany. I still can hardly believe it's happening. I was concerned that we hadn't received the order yet because we only have about 4-5 weeks left and a lot to do. Sam and I are still trying to decide which vehicle to take. We've heard it's pretty tight parking and driving so not to take the F-150, but then other's have said it's fine to have a larger vehicle. Also, the insurance is much higher in Germany and the Toyota would be $400 more per year than the Ford. That adds up.

This afternoon we went to Transportation at Schofield Barracks. That's the office that sets up the shipment of household goods, vehicle shipment and tickets. We filled out some paperwork, but have to return tomorrow morning for an appointment. After that we should have a better idea of when to plan on things happening.

Sam and I both took off work tomorrow to clean the house for the open house this weekend. The stager will be here Saturday morning, so we have to clean all the windows and put pictures away. Still tonight I'm going to shampoo the living room carpet. I hope we have a good showing on Sunday. Our real estate agent seems very confident that it will sell quickly. I hope so.

Well, I better get busy if I'm going to get what I need done tonight.

We're listing our house with Centery 21

Last Tuesday we met with two real estate agents to decide on who we wanted to help sell our house. The first lady had all the right credientials and kept telling us how many million dollar homes she's sold, but we just didn't feel comfortable with her. We felt she was low balling us on the asking price. The next lady we really liked. She loved our place and her price range was in the same range as we were thinking so we hired her on the spot.

Yesterday a "stager" came to our house to see what she might do to make it look model perfect. I was happy that she was so pleased with the house. She said it was lovely and it wouldn't really need much. She does want us to put away all personal pictures, clean all the windows and remove the microwave since it's not in the kitchen. It's right outside the kitchen in the dining area because it would take up precious counter space.

So Friday we are both taking off work to get everything done. Karen, the stager, will be back on Saturday morning to finish up then we have our first open house on Sunday afternoon. We'll take Gabby and go to Mom and Dad Thompson's during that time.

We're off work today because of President's Day. I took Gabby to the vet this morning. Poor baby had three shots and is acting like she's a little sore. She hates going to the vet and tried to hide her face in me the whole time we were there. I think she has everything she needs to go to Germany. Ten days out from when we leave I have to take her to get a bi-lingual health certificate at Hickam.

I think Sam and I might run to the beach for a little while then continue working when we return. It's getting a little cloudy though so I don't know how long we have.

The Kulamanu

The Pro Bowl alone would have made for a full weekend, but we were at it again on Sunday. A lady I used to work with, Jeannie Freeman, has invited us on numerous occasions to go for a ride on this out of commission dinner cruise boat. Her husband is a captain and takes the boat out every so often for maintenance. I thought Sam's parents and Linda would enjoy it, so we planned to head down to Waikiki at 11:30 for that.

First thing in the morning though, Sam headed down to our storage unit to bring a load back. We have very little storage space in our house, so quite awhile ago we got this storage space to keep Christmas decorations, books, winter clothes, etc. We have until the end of the month to get everything out, but he doesn't want to put it off. In the meantime I made pepperoni rolls and rice crispy treats for the boat ride.





















Mom and Dad Thompson and Aunt Linda came to our house and from here we drove downtown together. The boat wasn't suppose to leave until 1:00, but we were there at 12:30. I guess normally just a couple of people show up for the ride, but yesterday there were about 45 that came on board. Up on the top deck we set up some folding chairs in the shade. It was an old somewhat delapidated boat, so we had to sign saying that we were releasing the crew of any responsibility of it sinking or anything else that could go wrong.

Yesterday was such a beautiful day. Not a cloud in the sky and with the breeze blowing it didn't seem hot at all. We saw whales breaching and dolphins playing in the water. They were a little distance away, but it was still a lot of fun to watch. We just went up around Diamond Head (behind us in the picture above) and back. Altogether, the ride was just about two hours. After having such a nice ride, I was wondering why I hadn't taken Jeannie up on the offer before. I doubt they'll go back out again before we leave.

Today's update on Germany - we have appointments with two real estate agents tomorrow. They're meeting us at the house at 3:00 and 5:00. I need to do something with the boxes Sam brought in yesterday to get them out of our living space by tomorrow. I called and tried to get an appointment for Gabby today. Our regular vet does not have bi-lingual health certificates, so I called Hickam's vet clinic. They can issue the certificate, but prior to that Gabby has to have several shots. We're on a deadline because the shots have to be within the last year, but more than 30 days. The only appointment I can get at this point is exactly 30 days from the 26th of March, when we think we'll fly out. They are working with me though to see if I can get her in earlier. She has to get a rabies, feline distemper and feline leukemia. Poor baby has sure had her share of shots in her short life. I think I'll get some pills to relax her for the trip. I hope it't not too long for her.

I'm busy making cookies for a bake sale at work on Wednesday. This morning I told Steve, my boss, that I need the first week in March off because Mom's visiting. Poor guy...he just looked at me and said "What am I suppose to say? Does it even matter what I say?". He's really been a good boss to me. I'll miss working at Tripler.

Well, I should get busy since my evening is getting away from me. Sam will be home in an hour and I still have a lot I want to get done. Here are a few more pictures from yesterday -

Sam on the Kulamanu

Aunt Linda talking to one of the kids

Mom and Dad Thompson

Misty, Sam, Aunt Linda, Mom and Dad Thompson

Pro Bowl 2007

We went to Pro Bowl yesterday. Probably our last for some time since we'll be in Germany for the next 3-5 years at least. Up until we got married I'd never been that interested in football. I'm still not that interested in it, but I make an effort since Sam likes it so much. If we stayed in Hawaii I'm not sure if I'd continue to go to the Pro Bowl every year. It's not really my thing, but it ended up being a pretty nice day. Sam and I picked up his parents and Aunt Linda from Ko'Olina at 7:30. We met everyone else in the group at Halawa park at 8:30. The Aloha Stadium gates opened at 8:30, so at that time we caravaned into the parking lot. The idea was to get us all in two rows, so we could set up the tents and tailgate between the vehicles. Gus Harper, who was Sam's firt boss here in Hawaii, sets the whole thing up every year. The food gets catered in and we ate around 10:00 then headed in to the game which started at 1:00. The game lasted until 5:00. After that, back in the parking lot the food was heated up again and everyone had something else to eat. I think it was around 6:30 that we finally got out of there

Sam and I

Sam and Aunt Linda

Eating at Pro Bowl

Jasmine Trias sang"The National Anthem" and did an awesome job. An American flag was formed around where she was standing so it looked like she was standing in the middle of it.

Aunt Linda, Mom & Dad Thompson

Happy Birthday, Honey!

Yesterday was Sam's 38th birthday. It seems strange to think he's nearing 40. Yikes! I guess we should have kids before too many more years go by. The number just doesn't seem to fit him. Anyhow, we had Sam's parents and Aunt Linda over for dinner and cake. I made lasagna and bread rolls. Mom Thompson brought one of her salads. She makes the best salads. It's always a lot of fun sitting around listening to the Thompson's talk story. You never know whether to believe them or if they're grossly exaggerting yet again. I know to believe them if Mom Thompson says it's true.

Anyhow, we had a really nice time. Sam loves ice cream cakes, so I ordered a chocolate cake with Oreo ice cream from Baskin Robbins. So, after dinner we had cake and Sam opened his gifts. I had ordered a luggage set for him. He's been wanting a hard side luggage set and he wanted it in a bright color so he could easily spot it at the airport. The set he got is bright orange. I don't think I've seen too many orange suitcases while traveling. Sam's parents and Aunt Linda got him a Pro Bowl 2007 football and had several of the players autograph it. The Pro Bowl players stay at Ko'Olina right where Sam's parents are renting, so I guess they've seen quite a few of them. Tonight Sam's getting everything ready for Pro Bowl in the morning. This is his last after 11 years, so I know he's looking forward to it.

I just found out that Mom is coming for a visit!!! She's getting here on March 1st and leaving the evening of the 8th. I'm really glad she's coming. I didn't want to push her into coming because I still don't know exactly where we'll be in the moving process, but it'll be so nice having her here for a little while.

Here are a few more pictures from last night -

Bread Rolls and Lasagna for dinner

Gabby had a hard time not playing with Sam's birthday leis

My sweet husband helping to clean up after dinner

Getting ready for Super Bowl

It's been strange knowing that we're going to Germany. Realizing that in three months we'll no longer be living in Hawaii is hard to adjust to. On the one hand, it's doesn't seem like anything has changed because we haven't really started the process yet. But on the other hand I keep thinking about all we have to do before leaving.

We've kept the news under wraps pretty much because we haven't had a chance to tell our bosses yet and we feel like we owe them that. It's going to be hard telling my boss I'm leaving. I really like him and it's a terribly busy time at work. I don't want to leave a burden on anyone.

Sam and I have been going through the house trying to think about what to get rid of and what to keep. Sam thinks I'm way ahead of myself, but I've already started going through some boxes. I just don't want to continue hauling junk with me everywhere we go. I know how busy it's going to get and there won't be time later. Besides, when the movers come to pack us up I want to be as organized as possible to make unpacking in Germany a little easier.

I'm still trying to get over this flu/cold. Sam's refing basketball this morning, so that gives me time to clean the house. I got the house cleaned and my hair cut, now I'm busy baking desserts for the Super Bowl tomorrow. We're going to Mom and Dad Thompson's for the game. I love a clean house. And I really enjoy baking when it's cool enough that the stove doesn't heat up the whole house. We've had such beautiful weather lately. Not hot and a little cool in the evenings.

Well, I better get busy. The timer just went off.

Germany...here we come!

We finally got an answer from Germany.......we're going!! They called last night and Sam spent about an hour on the phone with them. He was prepared and had a list of questions to ask. I was glad he had that list because we've never moved overseas and there's a lot we don't know yet. Everything sounds really good. You usually don't know if the decisions you make are good until years down the road, but I think this is a good move for us. Every decision we make takes us in a different direction and creates a new future. We've left this decision to God and trust that He'll continue to lead us in the right direction.

Change is very hard for me, so of course I immediately started thinking about what I'm going to miss here. I've always said there will be things that I'll miss about Hawaii. I'll miss the people I work with. I really enjoy where I work. I'll miss our home. It's been our first home together and we've spent so much time and energy working on it. I'll miss Hawaii. There's no other place like this. I love our trips to the beach or outer island. We still don't know for sure when we'll be leaving. Probably sometime in March. I'm hoping Mom and Dad get to visit us before we leave, but it's kind of short notice, so I'm not sure if they'll make it.

A couple of weekends ago, Sam, his Mom and I hiked up to Makapu'u lighthouse. I'm a little late, but here are a couple of pictures.

Mom Thompson, Sam and Misty on the Makapu'u trail

Sam and Misty

Misty with Manana "Rabbit" Island in the background

Sam and his Mom

I'm sick!!

Looks like I should have been sweeter to Sam when he was sick. I didn't escape the bug either. I actually apologized to Sam for not being more sympathetic when he was sick, because I don't feel very well and probably shouldn't have teased him about being a baby. Oh well, live and learn. To make matters worse, I've been sick over the whole weekend. I'd rather be taking sick leave for this since all my time off has been spent in bed anyhow. I may not go to work tomorrow either depending on how I feel in the morning.

Well, we heard from Germany....Sam was offered the job, BUT at a lower rate of pay than we wanted. So, we have some negotiating to do before we decide if we're accepting it or not. I had a good feeling that he would get the job because he has a great personality and is very likeable. We're hoping to get his current base salary though, so we'll see what happens.

Ok, I got off the couch for my 5 minutes. Time to go back and see if there is anything on TV to entertain myself with. It's amazing how bored one can get watching TV. I need a good book.

Talk more later....

Hoping for a job in Germany

As you know, Sam and I have been interested in getting a job in Germany for quite awhile. We've put in for numerous jobs and have gotten a little discouraged at times because there are very few bites. Anyhow, two weeks ago Monday Sam had an interview for a SAS Director at Patch Barracks which is in Stuttgart. I thought the interview went very well. We know they checked his references because both Jerry and Kris told us they had contacted them.

So for over two weeks now we've been waiting....and waiting. We may not get the job, but at this point we just want to know so we can go on with our lives. Mom and Dad planned on coming to Hawaii in April, but that's on hold until we know for sure that we're going to be here. Tonight when Sam gets home we're going to email the person who he interviewed with and hopefully get an answer...one way or another.

The weather here has been so beautiful lately. Not too hot and very cool in the evenings and mornings. It's been really comfortable. My poor husband has not been feeling well. He has a cold and is so pitiful when he's sick (I guess maybe that's most men :) He was playing it for all it's worth last night. He stayed home on Monday, but couldn't stand it and was back to work yesterday. He is amazing though, he's usually not down for very long. Well, that's about it for now.

Christmas in Pennsylvania

If New Year's resolutions were something that I made, this year mine would be to become a more consistent blogger. I've fallen off the blogging map lately and have done a terrible job of keeping it up to date. Right up until we left for Pennsylvania we were busy working on the house. We got it (partially) back together right before leaving.

In my last entry we had finished the tile in one room. I never knew what back-breaking work tiling is. Every part of me ached for the longest time after finishing. My knees were blistered from being on them all day. Both rooms are now completed and look really great. I still have to finish decorating. I haven't put anything on the walls yet, because I wanted to think about what to put on the walls and not just fill the space.

On December 20th we left to spend Christmas with Sam's family in Hidden Valley, PA. We had a terrible flight out and through a series of unfortunate events ended up stuck in Chicago O'Hare for seven hours. We did meet some new friends through the whole process though. As it turned out we changed our flight and went to Columbus, OH where we rented a car with this other couple and drove to Pittsburgh (which was our original destination). Our luggage was lost in the process. Mine came in the next day, however, Sam didn't get his for three days. Poor guy.

These next pictures kind of tell the story.


Here's Sam, looking all relaxed.


Here I am. We were in a sitting area at the Honolulu Airport waiting for out flight to start boarding. We had no idea how long this trip would end up being.



Finally...28 hours later... we arrived at the hotel in Pittsburgh early Friday morning. Keep in mind we left Honolulu on Wednesday evening. We were so tired and still didn't have any luggage, but we were happy to have a bed to lie down in.



The next day we headed down to Fairmont, WV to spend some time with Grandma Thorne. We didn't have a lot of time there. We missed a big part of the day trying to track down our luggage. Realizing Sam wasn't going to get his luggage anytime soon, we stopped by Target for some clothes. By the way, we both loved Target. I wish we had one here in Hawaii.

It was nice seeing Grandma again. I've always loved going back to her house. She has the best arrangement of goodies on the table. Sam had her Hot Sausage for the first time. I think he liked it. He also got to experience Grandma's basement shower. He thought that was pretty cool. He wanted a picture of himself in the shower.

We ended up only being there the one evening and leaving the next afternoon. We would have spent more time with her, but the Thompson family was having a mini reunion that Sam really wanted to get to. It was nice finally meeting the aunt, uncles and cousins that I've heard about. We had a nice time at Mom and Dad Thompson's. It snowed just a little one day. Everyone else went skiing. I didn't though because Kristy and the kids were coming in from North Carolina. They drove up to see us, but it only ended up being just about 1 1/2 days. Connor's getting so tall and Hadassah is talking more. I really enjoyed seeing them again.


We all went to the Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, PA. It was touching to see the actual place where the plane went down and to see everything that people leave at the memorial.
Thursday evening we left Hidden Valley for Pittsburgh. We were leaving early Friday and wanted to spend the night close to the airport. Kristy and the kids stayed in the same hotel with us. Our rooms were right next to each other, so we ordered pizza and opened Christmas gifts. It would have been nice to have more time together, but we enjoyed what time we had.

The trip home was uneventful....thankfully.

We got a room tiled!

We had last Friday off (Veteran's Day). The day before Sam had found out that the tile was in a week early. So, early Friday morning he went to pick it up. I was so glad to get a week's head start on it. Even so, it's still going to be awhile before it's all done.

Sam got back to the house around 11:30. By the time we removed a few tiles that didn't fit right, it was about 1:00 before we started laying tile. We worked all day and got the office done by 8:00. It's very simple work, but sure is hard on the body. I don't think I'm that old, but I sure felt like I'd aged that evening. My knees, back and hands were hurting by the time we finished. By the next morning it felt as if I'd done 150 squats and lunges. Sam wanted to finish up and get the bedroom done the next day, but there was no way I was going to be able to do that. I was really hurting.

It feels good though to have one room done and it looks really nice. Sam did get the hallway closet tiled on Sunday, so this next weekend we'll get the bedroom tiled and then on the long Thanksgiving weekend we'll probably grout.

Saturday evening we went to the Aloha Dinner for our pastor and his wife. It was really nice, but it's sad to see them go. We enjoyed visiting and meeting others in the church. We need to get more involved in the church. I think Sam has invited about 4 different couples over "when we get the house done". He does love to have company and I have to try and accomodate that, even though I'm happy not having company.

One of the girls I work with, Rhi, has invited us over to their house for Thanksgiving. I thought that was really sweet of her. She knows our house is a mess right now. S am and I were going to go out to eat, but we hadn't found anywhere yet.

Well that's about it for now.

We have a free weekend :)

Another weekend is here. I'm not sure what we're doing this weekend. We don't seem to know what to do with ourselves anymore if there's no home improvement work to do. We're free from that for the next two weekends. We'll probably go to the beach. A girl Sam works with, Julie, was in a bad motorcyle accident last weekend, so I think we're going to visit her at the hospital.

Next Saturday our church is hosting an Aloha Dinner for our pastor and his wife, James and Julie. Their last day at the church is the 14th. They feel like it's time to leave the church and move on. I believe they are going to start another church. We're really going to miss them. I've appreciated his honest, true teaching. The church doesn't have a new pastor as of yet, but I just trust that God leads the right person to the job.

The picture above is an orange habiscus that we bought at Walmart several weeks ago. I love the deep color orange. When it first blooms the whole blossom is deep orange, but as the sun shines on it the color eventually turns to yellow. It's very pretty.

I was just going through some pictures and found these.

For our 2nd anniversary, Sam and I got a room at the Hale Koa and just enjoyed an evening down in Waikiki. We always enjoy getting away, even if for just an evening. The next day (which was our real anniversary) we met Diane and Liam at the Honolulu Zoo. Diane is married to Stefan, Sam's twin, and Liam is their 3 1/2 year old. I thought this picture was cute. They currently live in Japan and Stefan had already returned home. We wanted to spend some time with Diane and Liam so we went to the zoo together. As we were leaving, Uncle Sam wanted to buy something for Liam. He looked at a lot of things, but settled on this shark mask. We all had to look "scary" together.

Here we are on the beach at Waikiki. This was right behind the Hale Koa. You can't see it too well, but the sun was setting right behind us.


By the way, if you click on any of the pictures they'll come up on a separate page bigger. Also, there are comment links at the bottom of each post. You're welcome to leave me a message.

How many of you are there??

I found this website earlier today and thought it was interesting. You can type your name in and see how many people in the United States have the same name. I didn't think there would be that many people with my name. Guess I was wrong. Although when I put in my maiden name, Hosier, there was only one.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 254 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Check it out and see how many of you there are out there.

So, here's a quick update on the house. Sam checked on Monday and of course they didn't have the tile we need in stock, so he ordered it. They claim it'll be in by the 17th of November. I hope so, but I won't hold my breath. I guess there goes my goal of having the house back together by Thanksgiving. Well, at least we're in the home stretch now. We have to do the tile, then get closet doors and closet systems. I think that's about it and we'll be done. It'll be so nice to have our house back together again. Well, I'm going to go try to finish up the trim painting. That's the last thing we have to do before laying the tile.

Gabby's visit to the vet

Ok, you have to indulge me a little while I talk about my baby. I don't usually, so you'll just have to deal with it this time or skip this post.

So, yesterday I took Gabby to the vet for her annual checkup. Jeanne, a co-worker of mine, suggested I take Gabby to Dr. Fujitani at the Mililani Town Vet Clinic. She takes her cats there and has been very happy with the care they've been given.

I'm so glad I took Jeanne's advice. Dr. Fujitani was so good with Gabby and didn't rush us through the visit to get on with the next appointment. She gave lots of good information without me even having to ask.

Gabby was certainly not her normal self though. She's usually the bully on the playground. If she sees another cat she start hissing and growling. She usually ends up hanging from the screen door trying to get to the neighbor cat. Anyhow, it was a totally different story today at the vet. She hid in the corner of her cage, burying her little head in the blanket. When I finally took her out of the cage she was trembling and pretty much clung to me the whole time. She kept trying to bury her face in my clothes. Poor baby :(

She did hiss at Dr. Fujitani a few times, but for the most part was much nicer than normal. I mentioned Gabby's dislike of other people/animals and how she loves to fight with me. Gabby generally has an attitude of arrogance. According to Dr. Fugitani, Gabby is a perfectly normal hand raised (bottle fed) cat. I guess she received so much attention from birth on up, she just believes that she is queen. She didn't get to socialize with others when she was little, so she really doesn't know how to act around others. She thinks the world revolves around her. I guess it kind of does in our house :)

She was so happy to get home. The trip to the vet didn't have any long term effects on her. As soon as we got in the door and I opened her cage she acted as if nothing had happened.

Here is a little photo montage of Gabby as a baby.

Here she is around 3 weeks old. She couldn't even walk yet. She was just propping her little self up.



Gabby - 6 weeks old. She was big enough at this point to follow me around the house. She ran after me every time I left a room.

Here she is learning to drink out of a bowl instead of a bottle. She was probably around 9 weeks old. It took her a little while to get the hang of it.




And, finally, this is Gabby now. She still sucks on her blanket.

Home Improvement Setbacks

We are finally to the point in our home improvement where we're ready to tile the floors in the back two rooms. We decided to go with the same tile that's throughout the house so it doesn't look too broken up. I think it's going to look really nice. So, this morning Sam went to the tile store and they were out of the tile we needed. The warehouse is closed during the weekend, so come Monday they'll see if it's in stock. If not, then it'll take about 4 weeks to get it in. We're a little discouraged about that. We were ready to get going on the tile. We're both ready to have the house back together. But there's nothing we can do about it, so we'll relax a little this weekend and hope to have the tile next weekend. If only we had a couple weeks to dedicate to getting this job done then it wouldn't drag on for several months, but we only have the weekends, so it'll still be a little while.

Life is too short

Life is so short and it's never quite as evident as when you know someone that has just passed away. There was a young soldier that worked in our office at Tripler when I first started there 1 1/2 years ago. She was a few months pregnant and had just found out she had cancer. She went through chemo and seemed to be doing alright. I'd see her from time to time and she always had such a sweet attitude. Well, yesterday I heard that she was in the hospital and was expected to live only another 2-3 weeks. This morning I received an email saying she passed away during the night. She leaves behing her 1 year old daughter and husband.

It's so easy to get caught up in life and forget that this is only a trial for what follows. It convicts me to be more forward with talking to others about Christ. It also makes me realize how fleeting life is and to appreciate those I love and try to enjoy each day I have with them.

Our visit to the Big Island

We just returned from a nice weekend on the Big Island. It's so nice to get away for a little while. Especially right now when our place is such a mess due to our home improvements :) The only part I don't like is leaving Gabby here by herself. I know she's just a cat, but she's our baby and she has a hard time when we leave.
Hawaiian Airlines as having a great sale on tickets so we got both of our round trips for just over $40 each. That's really a great deal. The only problem was we didn't have much of an option about what time we left in the morning so the flight we were on left at 5:30. Wonderful! I had to get up even earlier than I normally do. We left the house at 4:00.
I really enjoy going to the Big Island. It's very laid back and lots of open country. The temperature is much cooler which I love. We stayed at Kilauea Military Camp which used to be an Army base and was established in 1916, but has since been turned into a military recreation facility. They have really nice cottages for rent.

Sunday morning we were just waking up when we heard this rumbling start. Being from Alaska I've been through a few earthquakes and knew right away what it was. It only lasted about 30 seconds or so. This was the first earthquake that Sam had been through and I think he found it really interesting. No matter how many you've experienced though it's still a little unnerving. It didn't have much of an impact on our day and we went about visiting the island. It wasn't until we got back to the cottage at 3:00 that I checked my voicemail and had messages from Grandma Thorne, Mom and Kristy. That's the first time we realized that the earthquake had actually made the news. Watching the news that night we found out that Oahu had been without electricity all day. Thay had it much worse than us.

We visited some really beautiful places on the Big Island. Since we flew in so early that first day and couldn't get into the cottage until later that afternoon we had a lot of time to relax and really enjoy our day. That first day we went to Rainbow Falls. There are alot of waterfalls on the island, but this one was particularly beautiful. Sam was determined to get a view of the waterfall from the top, so we climbed over all the rocks to get right out to the waterfall. We were looking right down on it. It was awesome!
We were fortunate enough to get to see the lava flow from the volcano. A lot of times it's too far away to see, but we got within two miles of it and had a wonderful view of it. Unfortunately the camera wasn't able to capture it. It was getting pretty dark out and the exposure was just too slow. It's pretty cool when you go down to see where the lava is flowing, because they have closed the roads due to the lava. You're on the road and then it's just closed and there are hills of black lava. We walked out probably 1/2 mile and were able to get up on a huge lava boulder and we had a perfect view. The red lava and steam from it entering the ocean was very visible. Thankfully the camcorder picked it up pretty well.

We stopped by the Thurston Lava Tube. Amazing what nature can create.

If you are ever on the Big Island you must stop in at the Punalu'u Bakery. They have the best Sweet Taro Bread. As we pulled into the driveway we could already smell the bread baking. We visited the Black Sand beach which is getting smaller it seems. The sand there is so pretty. I suppose it ground up lava rock, but it just sparkles. Very pretty.


There were Yellow Ginger flowers everywhere it seems. As we were walking through the trees at Rainbow Falls we found this beautiful bouquet of flowers. They smell so sweet.

Well, we had a really nice time over our weekend. It's always nice to get away. We wondered what had been damaged in our house because of the earthquake, but it didn't look like anything had been touched. I'm convinced it was blown out of proportion. I'm just thankful that we were alright and no one was hurt.

Another weekend is here

I love Friday evenings. The work week is over and I know that Sam and I have a couple of days to spend together. We see each other so little through the week. Our work schedules are just different enough to make it hard. Usually by the time he's getting home I should be going to bed. I don't usually though or I'd never see my husband.

For the next month or two I don't see us exactly enjoying our weekends though because of this home improvement project we got ourselves into. That's actually where Sam is right now. He went to Lowe's tonight to get the sheetrock, so we can get busy on the ceiling early in the morning. We only have 4 more sheets to get up. Even to me, that doesn't sound like much, but somehow it is when you're lifting that heavy sheet of sheetrock.

While we're doing the ceilings and repainting the walls I think we should either put new carpet down or lay tile. We looked at some tile last weekend, but when we found some we liked it was pretty expensive. I'm still not sure it would look real good not having the same tile all through the house. It may be better to go back to carpet.

The airlines are having another price war, so that's great for us. We like to go to the other islands and it's a perfect time when tickets are $19 one way. So, today we booked our flights for October. We're going to go to the Big Island again. Those mini vacations are so nice. Just to get away for a couple of days is refreshing.

We (or I should say Sam) have been walking Bill's dog, Kea. He's cute, but a handful to walk because he barks at everything. He only stands a foot tall, but thinks he's the toughest little thing around. Sam walks him in the morning and we usually walk him together in the evening. I feel bad that Sam is stuck doing it both times, but just before leaving Bill got a new room mate and I don't feel real comfortable going in not knowing when he's there. The other night Sam was going to be late, so I needed to walk Kea and sure enough Bill's roommate was just getting out of the shower. It wasn't the most comfortable situation for either of us.

Well, Sam just called and is on his way home, so I'm going to close and go open the gate. We have to bring those sheets in the house yet tonight and then go walk Kea.

Home Improvements

We have the hottest townhouse in Mililani. Part of the problem, I’m sure, is the single wall construction. The walls have no insulation in them and the ceiling is just plywood with shingles covering it. So as the days get hotter the heat soaks into the house and stays there. It was usually hotter inside than out. So...last summer Sam and I had a bright idea. We could just frame in the ceiling in the living/dining room area and put insulation in. It sounded easy enough. The ceiling is open beam construction, so Sam framed in between the beams and we put in a drop ceiling. We used tarp foil insulation (which they claim works better than the pink stuff) and put up sheetrock. The worst part was the 16' cathedral ceiling in the living room. It was a 3 month ordeal that took us to our limits. That was in our first year of marriage and it's amazing that we made through. It was a horrible experience, but it seemed worth it once we got it done. The ceiling looks great and it decreased the temperature by probably 10 degrees.

So now, a year has passed and we obviously forgot how horrible an experience it was because we decided the office and bedroom needed to get insulated too. Last weekend we went to Lowes and bought the 2x4s for the ceiling. I made the comment that I was dreading going through this again and Sam said "Actually, I'm kind of excited about it". I don't think it took too long for the excitement to get dampened. Saturday and Sunday Sam spent framing in the beams and through the week we moved everything out of the rooms. Our bed is now in the dining room and clothes are hanging wherever there is room. Dressers are sitting throughout the living and dining rooms. Gabby loves the new setup. She has all kinds of new places to explore.

Today we got up early and Sam headed to Lowes to get the sheetrock and other supplies. We decided to go with 12' sheetrock to eliminate having to mud and tape the seams. That sounded like a great idea until I tried to lift one sheet. I was able to help carry 3 sheets before Sam got a neighbor to help with the last one. My hands hurt and feel blistered.

For some unknown reason, the people who built this house put a ledge all around the rooms about 6 inches from the ceiling. It's just enough to make it nearly impossible to get the sheetrock up there. The first sheet ended up breaking. We found that if we cut it shorter by about 1/2 inch then we can get it up to the ceiling. We've been at it for around 7 hours and got one long piece up and 2 smaller ones. I'm ready to quit, but we have a lot more to do. My poor husband has been stabbed with the razor knife and hit in the head with a 2x4. It's been quite a day.
Sam had to quit to drive our neighbor, Bill, to the airport. I’m not sure how much more we’ll do today. I’ll try to post some pictures of the progress.