Somm Like it Hot

bertha hurricane damage 4

2011-08-30T08:14:00.001-04:00

bertha hurricane damage 3

2011-08-30T08:12:00.001-04:00

bertha hurricane damage 2

2011-08-30T08:11:00.002-04:00

bertha's hurricane damage

2011-08-30T08:08:00.001-04:00

Analysis Paper

2011-04-21T15:36:00.003-04:00

My most recent paper, an analysis of a Snickers commercial

Click Here To Watch Commercial

Feed Your Inner Diva

In this advertisement, Snickers successfully uses several persuasive techniques to convince adult viewers that these candy bars are a necessity. Humor and “average Joe’s” entertain the viewer while also subliminally implying they, the viewer, could easily find themselves in a similar situation. A couple divas indirectly provide celebrity endorsement by representing common side effects of hunger. All this is followed up by a strong statement and a popular slogan telling the viewer they need a Snickers to satisfy their inner diva.

The commercial begins with a car full of twenty-something year old males, the “average Joe’s,” and Aretha Franklin, one of the divas, on, what appears to be, a road trip. Aretha, sitting in the back seat, is overheated, both literally and figuratively. She’s hot and insisting the air conditioning be turned up because she is, sarcastically, “...dying back here.” When the guy sitting in the seat in front of her tells her it’s on and asks “Can’t you feel it?” she smacks him in the face and replies, acerbically, “Can ya feel that?” The use of this timeless, slapstick style humor makes the viewer laugh, which releases endorphins, neurotransmitters that produce a feeling of well-being. An emotional connection the viewer feels, whether positive or negative, with the commercial will help them remember not just the commercial, but the product as well. Later, when the viewer sees Snickers candy bars at the store, they will associate them with the laughter and good feelings they had when watching the commercial; therefore, making the Snickers highly desirable. The humor also helps to soften the negative feelings evoked by the association of the physical and emotional occurrences that happen when we wait, just a little too long, to get a bite to eat. Hot and sweaty, short tempered and irritable, and, sometimes, a bit physically violent.

At this point, the guy next to Aretha refers to her as Jeff and tells her she needs a Snickers because whenever she gets hungry she turns into a diva. After taking a bite, Jeff’s inner diva is exorcised and he returns to his true form. The guy that was sitting in front of him is now a cantankerous Liza Minnelli, the other diva, who demands Jeff to “...get your knees outta the back of my seat.” More humor, out of the mouth of another diva, to highlight the consequences of hunger and to give an example of how an “average Joe” can be just fine one-second and a cranky diva the next.

Diva, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is a usually glamorous and successful female performer or personality. However, the term diva is also often used to describe someone that is grumpy, whiney, and practically throwing a childish temper tantrum to get their way. In real life, Aretha Franklin, also known as The Queen of Soul, is one of the greatest musical artists of all time and fits the formal definition of a diva to a T. She is often associated with the later diva definition, as well, so the demands for the air conditioner to be turned up, slapping her friend, and her sarcasm play nicely to that effect. Her career length, about 50 years so far, combined with her level of fame make her familiar to adults of all ages. Liza Minnelli’s career is nearly just as long and she has, fairly consistently, spent most of it in the proverbial limelight. Like Aretha, Liza is another celebrity that can fit the profile for either definition of a diva and is easily recognizable by folks from many generations.

The commercial ends with the voice over statement “You’re not you when you’re hungry” followed by one of their most popular slogans “Snickers Satisfies.” This is very powerful. Individually, each statement has a bit of weight to it. However, when put together, with a slight pause in between, it’s as if there is an additional unsaid, yet understood, statement in the middle. Snickers is telling the viewer: “You’re not you when you’re hungry” ...you’re finicky and combative, but it’s okay, we can help you fix it if you eat this candy bar because... “Snickers Satisfies.”

Each method, such as humor, indirect celebrity endorsement, and having a powerful slogan, used by Snickers, in this advertisement, could easily be influential on their own. Yet, the ability Snickers has to connect with the viewer on conscious and subconscious levels, by fluidly blending and overlapping the techniques, is what makes this commercial successful. Now, the only question that remains is, do Snickers really satisfy?

I'm still alive...

2011-01-23T13:47:00.004-05:00

...yet slightly morphed since the last time I posted. No longer part of the working class. I have joined forces with hundreds of students with a goal of furthering our education at our local community college. So, I guess I'll start posting again. This college world is new to me. It's been a while since I've spent so much time around VERY young adults. Can be quite entertaining at times. Can also be roll-your-eyes frustrating.

One of my classes this semester is an English Comp. class. I hate writing, but after 2 weeks I like my teacher and think I might not loath writing so much after the next 14 weeks. Our first paper, a literacy narrative, is due this week. I thought I'd post it.

Andrea Somm M.A.S.H

I write lists...for everything. Chore lists for my children, Honey-Do lists for my husband, lists for grocery shopping, who-to-send-a-Christmas-card-to lists, even my spending plan, albeit it is a rather complex list, is a list. To some, this may seem neurotic, but my life without these lists would be chaotic.

It all started in my preteen years. You know, when hormones are all discombobulated and self-esteem is on a roller coaster. Like most other Junior High students, I was exploring who I was, discovering the world around me and trying to figure out where I fit into it. A girlfriend showed me a “future prediction” game. A simple sheet of paper with M.A.S.H. written across the top. Just what I needed, the answer to some of my most burning questions. Am I going to live in a mansion or a shack? Marry the cutest boy or the smartest? Be a doctor or a lawyer? Get stuck with five kids or luck out and not have any?

“Pick a number!” she said, after I had listed the five boys I wanted to marry, my five dream jobs, five cars I would love to own, and five options for how many children I would like to have. Thirteen always was my lucky number. She began counting each item, crossing off the thirteenth one she came to until finally, there was only one item left in each category. This was my Master List, my future. I was going to marry Jeff and work as a lawyer. We were going to have four kids, live in an apartment and I was going to drive a Ferrari. Four kids and live in an apartment? Are you serious? And a Ferrari only has enough seats for two, not six. This was not the future I was hoping for.

The very next day Jeff started going out with my friend Amy. “What am I going to do?” I thought. “There is no way I can marry Jeff now that he is Amy’s boyfriend!” I had to play the game again, this time making sure to leave Jeff off the list and to pick my second lucky number, 7. So I did, with less than desirable results. Sure I’d get to marry Mark, smartest boy in the seventh grade, but we would be stuck living in a shack. Forget it! I don’t need a stupid game to predict my future. I can make up my own list. I am going to marry Scott (because he is sooo cute) and work as a veterinarian (because bunnies are sooo cute). We would live in a mansion, drive matching Toyota 4x4’s, and not have any kids (because they are sooo not cute).

From that Master List I was able to make more lists. When would we get married? Spring, fall, right after high school or wait until after college. Where would our mansion be? In the mountains, on the beach, or in the suburbs of Beverly Hills? Where would I go to college? Southern California, Northern California, or maybe out-of-state.

Eventually my lists progressed and matured as I did. Instead of listing boys I wanted to marry I listed characteristics that I would like my future husband to have. I made lists of personal goals, short term and long term. When I was struggling to make a decision about something I would make a list of pros and cons.

As it turns out, I am not the only one in this crazy world that likes to make and/or use lists. There are baby name books with lists and lists of names for parents to choose from when they have a wee one on the way. There are Top 10 lists for every imaginable thing on the planet, including Top 10 Reasons Why People Hate Top 10 Lists. There is a website, named after some guy Craig, with lists and lists of classified ads. There are applications for smart phones that enable people like me to expand our list making capabilities. No more need for pens and papers. We can make, and save, a grocery list right on our phone.

I am now in my thirties and as I look back at my list-making years, I realize two things: 1) While lists did not predict my future they did guide me along the way and played a big part in how I got to where I am today; 2) My kids are sooo much cuter than bunnies.

Excuse...

2009-10-28T21:37:00.002-04:00

the cobwebs and dust. I've been a bit busy with life for the last 9 1/2 months. Can you believe it's really been that long? I'm not even gonna try and write about everything so I'll just update what's been going on lately.

Pretty much H1N1. Isabella had it last week. (Well, Doc said he's 98% sure but that it's so common they're not testing for it anymore). Novella is home this week with the exact same symptoms so I'm betting she has it too. Luckily Chris had some extra leave to use so he could stay home while I still work. It's so comforting to know that I can leave my sick kids home with their daddy and they'll be taken care just as well as if I'd been there. Sometimes, maybe even better because he's such a softy when it comes to them being sick. I talk to some ladies and their hubbies are worthless!! Right now it's pretty important I miss as little of work as possible. We had a last minute, unplanned trip to Cali in August that used up every bit of our savings. Used our Star Card to buy a camcorder because we were going to see family we hadn't seen in years and also needed to get Grandpa Somm's life story on tape. Then, while there, my tooth starts hurting. Not just aching but like I'd-rather-be-in-labor-than-suffer-another-day-with-this-tooth-in-my-face kind of pain. So, about $800 later, my tooth is not hurting anymore. =D Luckily, since we had no savings left, there's this credit card, used for medical bills, that won't charge you interest if you pay it off within a certain amount of time. I'm sure, after all this, you can understand why it's important I not take any days off.

Other than that, work is good, Chris is good, the girls are good, I'm good. LIFE IS GOOD!

Finally made it...

2009-01-11T19:40:00.007-05:00

to the computer with enough time to post something. Let's see. Don't remember too much about November. Chris started a new job as an instructor. Office job, killer hours, enough days off to get on my nerves, but thankful that the years of long hours, all night and day on the flight line, have finally paid off.

Thanksgiving was great. Our friends Laura, David, and their little girl Layah came over for the afternoon. Yummy turkey and a few fixings were enjoyed by all. December had us busy repainting Isabella's room while simultaneously preparing for the biggest holiday of the year.

Fist stop was a visit with Santa at a little party hosted by our property owners association.

Then we took a break. The calm before the storm so to speak. Here's the girls on Laura and David's go-cart. They had so much fun!

Here's a "before" pic of Isabella's room. The room is small so it's difficult to get a whole lot of the room in one pic. This is of her door. You can see her closet door on the right of the pic.

Chris took the "after" pics so they're not quite as good as my "before" pics ;-D This is her door and you can just barely see her closet door frame on the right. She LOVES Tinkerbell (who can blame her really) so we painted her room light blue and light green. Then finished off the trim and ceiling in bright white.

Here's a "before" of her window with a lovely view of the small lake in our backyard. The closet is just behind me and the door to her room is just to my right. There was a very old, very ugly, off white, plastic mini-blind with 1" slats on the window. Part of her room make-over was new blinds in a bright white with 2" slats. There were also almond colored outlets/switches. Those were updated/upgraded to a more modern looking style in a bright white color.

Here's an "after" pic of the window with new blinds.

Here's a "before" pic of her closet. You can see a cute little shelf above it that she likes to keep her stuffed animals on.

Here's the "after".

The best part of having older kids is that we can put them to work. Bad part is they kinda suck in the painting department so we didn't let them "help" too much.

Here's the make-over honoree herself. She loves her new room even though it's not quite done. We still have a few shelves to hang, pictures to hang up, curtain to put up, and I want to buy some purple paint so that I can do a few little "fairy" sayings/quotes on the walls. I'll post more pics after that's all done. Gotta wait for Chris to get back.

Finally the painting was done and we could focus on Christmas. The girls were very innovative when it came to getting ornaments and candy canes up high!

Laura and David really wanted us to spend Christmas with them since they did Thanksgiving at ours but we have a tradition that we weren't ready to break. Staying home, in pj's, spending time with each other and playing with our presents. It was great. The girls got way too much, as usual. Chris beat his new Star Wars Wii game that he opened that morning. I straightened my hair with my new flat iron. We were all happy.

Next came New Years. We have no traditions for this one so off to Laura and David's we went with Corona's and Jello Shots in hand. Frozen pizzas, banana colada's, and drunken dancing were some of the highlights of the evening.

Chris left on January 4th. He's attending a course at Sheppard AFB in Wichita, Texas that will give him his certifications to be an instructor in the Air Force. This locks him in for 4 years minimum here at Langley. He'll be back at the beginning of February. The girls were missing him terribly the first couple of days but with school back in and all their extra-curricular activities they're hanging in there like real troopers.

I have a couple trips planned for us while he's gone. We have friends, that we met in Okinawa, that now live in Maryland. Only about 4-5 hours drive away. The girls and I are going up to see them for a couple days. I also have a cousin that lives about 7-8 hours drive away in North Carolina. It's her daughters birthday so we'll go party with them the weekend after Maryland. I love road trips! =D

Other than that there's not much. Oh, except for Girl Scout cookies. So, if you know anyone wanting any let me know. $3.50 a box.

I probably won't post again until after our trips so until then....rock on!

Not so good on the follow through...

2009-01-06T08:49:00.002-05:00

My intentions are always good but for some reason I can't seem to be consistent with this darn blog. Chris is gone for a few weeks so I'm sure I'll have more time to fiddle with it. I need to catch you all up on the last 2 months. I'll try and get some stuff up before the weekend.

Screamin' Weekend

2008-10-27T16:13:00.008-04:00

We had so much fun this weekend. Lately our weekends have been so full of work and to-do lists that the kids, Chris, and I have been ran ragged. Well, last week I decided that I was taking our weekends back. Back to family time. Although every weekend won't be as care free as the last I'm going to put in more of an effort into focusing on family fun.

Anyhow, back to last weekend. On Saturday there was a kid's Halloween party at the club house in our housing area. Nothing major, just some hot dog's, chips, soda, and candy for the kids. There was also a costume contest. Both the girls placed 2nd in their age groups.

Here is Isabella the Spider Witch

Here is Novella the Monster Bride

After the party @ the club house we headed to the mall. Borders was having a special little get together for the kids as well. Songs and fun ensued followed up by another costume contest. This time the girls were in the same age group. Novella won 1st place!! She received a cool Halloween pop-up book. After all the winners were announced they had a Best in Show winner. The winners of each age group competed against each other. Novella won again. This time she got a Disney box set. It contained about 4 or 5 books themed around Halloween with some popular Disney characters. That was about all the fun we could handle for one Saturday. Besides, we had to get home and rest up for Sunday.

Busch Gardens Howl-O-Scream or Bust was our theme for Sunday. I love roller coasters. I love Halloween. What happens when you mix these two together? F-U-N!!! The first little area when you enter the park is England. Which makes you think of what? PIRATES!!

I'm pretty sure this is my step-dad and his brother in their younger years.

There were some really cool ghosts hanging in the trees too. I wanted to take one home so bad!!

The girls got their pic taken with the performers from one of the shows we watched. Way cool!!

I already can't wait for Howl-O-Scream next year. Can we say babysitter for the girls? There were some scary looking haunted houses and trails that we couldn't go see because our daughters are scaried cats. I get so damned scared so easily too but I love the rush. It's one hell of a natural high for me!

So, all in all we had a fabulous weekend full of fun, scares, prizes, candy, and family. Not sure of the plan for next weekend but I'm sure I'll figure something out. Until next time...Peace!

I love...

2008-10-16T14:42:00.002-04:00

...living by a small lake!

I forgot...

2008-10-12T08:37:00.002-04:00

...to tell you in my last post that we got a kitty. I went on Craigslist to find a playmate for our Doxie, Godiva. For months I've been looking for a small dog, that's fixed, free, and might fit into our family. No such luck there. Seems like everyone wants to keep their pooches, the little ones anyhow. There are tons of pit bulls, labs, and golden retriever types. Although cats don't require walks, lots of food, or lots of attention they do come with claws and stinky litter boxes. I wasn't keen on the idea but really had no choice. I found a 6 month old grey and white, fixed and free house cat. He's transitioned into our home nicely. He wasn't real happy with the idea of a dog but after 3 days he realized she wanted to play and not eat him. They chase each other all over the house now. He's a total lover boy and has pretty much already learned to stay off the table and not claw the furniture. Now if I can just get him to quit attacking my toes when I'm getting into bed. He hides out under the bed and patiently waits until I'm within perfect striking range. It's actually rather cute. His name was Wall-E but we quickly changed that to Meeko.

One other bit of info that I must share...If you're a fan of Blizzards from Dairy Queen and a fan of Pumpkin Pie with whipped topping then you have to go to Dairy Queen and get their Pumpkin Pie Blizzard. It is FANTASTIC!!

OMG!!!

2008-10-09T14:53:00.011-04:00

It's been almost a month since my last post. So much has happened since then. The girls are about done with tennis lessons.

I think Novella might have one more but that's it. They loved it. They'll probably do it again next year but, for now, we're taking a break from sports. Soccer and softball start up in the spring so we'll focus on academics over the winter.

Speaking of academics, I got their progress reports today and both are doing very well. Novella has joined two after-school clubs. One is "Stay Safe and Drug Free" the other is "Battle of the Books". They both meet once a month after school and seem like they're going to be very fun. They have their Math-a-thon tomorrow and are excited to earn lots of money for their school.

Chris made it back from Florida safe and sound. He found out that he's definitely going to be an instructor. He took his rip today and should have his orders next week. He'll leave his current job and go to his new job at the beginning of November then he'll go to Texas in January for his certification. He'll be gone about 5-6 weeks. That's the longest he's been gone since he went to basic training. Should be interesting.

As for me, hmm, I applied for a job to work in the cafeteria's on Thursday, September 11th, they called me, that day, to come in for an interview the next day. Some interview, it was to fill out all my paperwork so I could start working. I went for my TB test on Monday; got the test read, fingerprinted, and started work on Wednesday as a substitute. Can you believe that? I had to travel to different schools, depending on who was out sick and stuff. They knew I'd prefer a permanent position so I wouldn't have to travel all over but that I couldn't work until 9:00 am. They said they didn't have any but would let me know if something came up. On September 30th, less than two weeks after I started, they called and said they had a permanent position open for me. It's an elementary school about 10 minutes from my house and I work 9:30-2:00. It's practically perfect. The work is so easy, the pay is decent, and the people I work with are great. I haven't worked since we were in Okinawa so I'm re-learning how to balance work and domestic duties.

That's about all that's going on for us here in VA. Oh, below is a pic of our friends baby girl, Layah. If you're a follower then you've seen her on here before. I can't believe how fast she's growing. She's finally hit my favorite baby stage: 6-9 months. Anyhow, they came over last weekend and it was in the evening so of course she was getting sleepy. She was on the floor laying down and Godiva happened to be close by. Well, the cutest thing happened...Layah scooted over and put her head down on Godiva's belly to cuddle her. Godiva loves the attention and of course immediately rolled over on her back.

Oh yeah, the house you may ask. Still has a leaky pipe but that's because we haven't been home long enough to have Mr. Wharton come take a look at it. And, apparently, our fence is not up to code so we must pressure wash and stain it within 30 days. At this rate we're never gonna paint the stinkin' walls. Geez. Guess we're off to the home improvement stores after work tomorrow. Take care all. Hopefully it won't be another month 'til my next post.

The Paradise

2008-09-11T08:54:00.005-04:00

that I found myself living in for two weeks, while my granny was here, has come to an end. It was wonderful while it lasted and, hopefully, she'll be up for another visit next year. Chris left today for about 3 weeks to Florida. So, the girls and I are left here to figure out another new normal. I've been applying for some jobs so keep your fingers crossed for me.

The girls are settling into school nicely. They both like their teachers and have each made a special friend. The school is about 1/2 a mile away so we've walked to it the last two mornings. They like it better than riding the bus. Godiva does too, except when it's time for us to come back home she doesn't understand why we're leaving her sisters. Both of the girls wanted to take tennis lessons which start next week. We're definitely looking forward to that.

I guess that's it for now. Oh, besides another stupid leak in our 'money-pit' house. lol j/k it's not that bad but I wanna paint already, not spend money on leaky pipes. ;-) peace

First payment...

2008-09-03T14:16:00.008-04:00

on our mortgage! Woo hoo! Only 259 to go. lol

We've been having a blast with my granny. I don't want her to leave. Laura, David, and Layah came over for a bbq and some relaxation. Here's a pic of Novella, Dizzy, Layah, and my granny. The 4 cutest girls in the whole world.

Here's Granny posing with the girls on their first day of school. It sure is quiet around here but Godiva and I are adjusting. ;-) We went for a walk today. Less than a week and my granny will be headed home. :-( The day after she leaves Chris will leave for almost 3 weeks to Florida. We're pretty sure he got an instructing job he applied for but haven't really heard for sure. If he did get it, he'll have to go to a 6 week long school in Texas. Hopefully he won't be gone for the holidays. Speaking of holidays...my friends are coming to see me. YAY! Joni and her entourage will be here in December. Only for a couple days but it's better than none! I'm off to get the girls from the bus and spend more time with MY granny.

Starving Artists...

2008-08-27T23:52:00.005-04:00

...no more. Well, at least not for a while. I spent a small fortune at the 'paint-it-yourself' shop today. My granny is visiting and we're having a blast. When I was unpacking I came across the plates the girls painted for Chris and the gifts my bff and her girls painted for me. I thought to myself that I would LOVE something painted by my granny in my home. I wasn't sure she'd go for it but when I asked her she said sure. Woo Hoo! So today we all went down there and painted a few things. Novella picked a cute odd shaped vase for her room. Isabella picked a little butterfly/fairy trinket box for her room. Chris picked a ghost/jack-o-lantern candle holder to add to our Halloween decoration collection. Granny picked a turtle, for my cousin Andrea who loves turtles, a small tear drop shaped bead she's going to use to make a necklace for herself, and a small vase for me. I picked a different small vase to put on display next to the one she paints for me.

Here's a pic of Granny and Novella. Granny said she had fun watching us paint, but got frustrated (almost angry lol) while she was painting because she doesn't think she's good at it. I told her I won't make her paint ever again unless something happens to the vase she painted me. ;-)

Here's a pic of all of us. I can't wait until Sunday when we pick up our pieces. I'll have to post pics of the results. Chris was a bit confused/worried because the color of the paint you use isn't the color it will be after the piece gets fired in the kiln. Dizzy was almost done painting her fairy when she dropped it on the floor and it broke. Tears ensued. Luckily the lady doesn't charge extra if that happens. We got a new fairy and started over. Anyhow, we're off to open house @ the school tomorrow followed by lunch at Chuck E. Cheese. I did not intend for my Granny to get ran ragged while here but for some reason it seems to be working out that way. Thank goodness the girls go to school next week.

A horse is a horse, of course, of course

2008-08-25T23:36:00.004-04:00

Saturday we decided to take a break from the house and go visit our friends, Laura, David, and little Layah, who just recently bought a house of their own. They have two horses and the kids have been dieing to ride them, or at least feed them an apple.

Here's Novella riding Jingle Bells while Laura leads him around. He's about 10 yrs. old and Laura has had him for about 4 or 5 yrs. He's really sweet and friendly but very pushy.

Here is Dizzy riding Ashlyn while Chris, AKA The Horse Whisperer, leads her around. Ashlyn is about 8 yrs. old and Laura just got her on August 19th. She's very sweet and easy to handle. I know nothing about horses but she's so easy going that I felt very comfortable and relaxed around her. Needless to say we all had fun and can't wait to go back to Happy Acres.

Here's a pic Novella took of Chris, AKA The Baby Whisperer, holding little Layah while she get's her beauty sleep. She's getting so big!

Where a kid can be a kid...

2008-08-18T14:17:00.005-04:00

The girls decided they wanted a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. I wasn't keen on the idea but it's what they wanted AND no mess at home to clean up. Unfortunately because their birthdays are in the summer it means not so many kids/friends to invite. Makes it cheaper for me though! They each had one friend that was able to make it, who happened to be sisters. The best part of a Chuck E. Cheese birthday party is that the hostess makes sure that you (the parent) doesn't lift a finger. They take your order, get your drinks, serve the pizza (even for mom and dad), light the candles, serve the cake, AND clean up. It was awesome. The kids had a blast too.

Here's Dizzy stuffing her face and enjoying her party with her friend Makayla.

Here's Novella hangin' with her friend Kirstin.

Who wouldn't love a hug from Chuck E. Cheese himself?

Say Cheese!! No pun intended.

8-15-08

2008-08-16T10:50:00.005-04:00

Isabella decided she wanted to spend her 7th birthday at Water Country, USA. Sounded great to us.

Here's Dizzy, sporting the new family birthday hat, while we were waiting in line for the park to open.

Here she is ready to go get wet.

Here's a pic taken about 3:30. Around 3:00 I heard thunder and then the voice over the loud speaker announced that all rides are temporarily closed. Well, I haven't been in VA long but I've been here long enough to know that these storms that roll in during the late afternoon don't pass quickly. They're also full of lightning that takes your breath away, thunder that shakes the ground you're standing on, and enough rain to put an Okinawan typhoon to shame. There was an acrobatic water show @ 5:30 that Dizzy wanted to see but by 4:00 we couldn't wait any longer. The storm was rolling in fast so we high tailed it out of there just in time. We'll try to make it back next week to see the show. Despite our day being cut short because of the storm Isabella had a fabulous, fun filled 7th birthday.

8-13-08

2008-08-14T10:20:00.005-04:00

Novella wanted to celebrate her 9th birthday at Busch Gardens, so off we went. We had a ton of fun. The temperature was just right and there were scattered clouds to keep direct sunlight to a minimum. I'm on some medication that makes me a bit loopy so I avoided rides but still had a blast watching the girls have fun.

Here's a pic I was able to get of Chris and the girls rollin' down the rapids.

When we first got to Busch Gardens there was a shop with these cute hats that looked like birthday cakes and said Party Animal. It was way too appropriate for the situation so we had to get it. It's the new 'Family Birthday' hat.

Here's a self portrait of the birthday girl.

Life is good...

2008-08-08T21:23:00.004-04:00

As I'm sure you know, since we've been in VA we have been avid house hunters. Well, that phase has finally ended and now we are on to the new phase...hopeless DIYers. lol My bff said that as soon as we moved in we'd start a TO-DO list and it would never end. Boy was she right. Sometimes my head spins just thinking of all the things we want to do and all the things we need to do. We may only be here for 5 years and I'm not sure that's enough time to get it all done. ;-)

We still have some unpacking to do and lot's of decorating to do. Hopefully we'll have most of it done by the time my granny get's here on the 25th. Chris took leave for the WHOLE month of August so we'll either get it all done or kill eachother. hee hee. Don't forget we have to throw in the girls' birthday's too. Anyhow here's a couple pics to get you started. Once the house is in some sort of order I'll post more.

This was taken right after we signed and right before we walked in as the new owners. A great day in the Somm family.

You know it didn't take long for my girls to get out the fishing pole. They love having a fishing hole 10 feet out the gate of the bakyard.

This is a view, from Novella's bedroom, of the pond right outside our backyard. That's Novella on the bulkhead of the pond. She can't get enough of it and spends as much time out there as possible.

Here's a quick clip of Novella and I watching the ducks.

What's going on?

2008-06-02T14:17:00.005-04:00

Well, since my last post here's what we've been up to...

Laura and David had their beautiful baby girl Layah Ann Sephira Leaven near the end of March. I was one of the birth coaches and it was very different yet just as amazing to be a passenger instead of the driver. Layah is now 2 months old and growing like a weed. Here's a recent pic of Novella holding her. Ain't she adorable?!
At the beginning of April my sister moved out to start a new life but before she did we took a trip to Busch Gardens.

The same day she left my dad came for a visit. We went to Busch Gardens again...

Isabella learned to ride a two wheeler so Chris and I bought bikes. Now we like to go riding in a local park. The bike trail is 5.3 miles long and goes passed a protected Civil War Earthworks area and George Washington's headquarters. Here's a pic of part of the trail...

Soccer has wrapped up and we only have one more softball game left. Chris is TDY in Las Vegas for a few weeks. And school gets out next week. WOO HOO. The summer will be busy. Water Country USA and Busch Garden trips and moving into our new house at the end of July. I will leave you with a pic of my smallest munchkin dressed up for a performance at school. She's, by far, the cutest butterfly fish I've ever seen.

Whoa...

2008-03-14T13:13:00.002-04:00

Can't believe it's been almost 2 months since my last post. Lot's has happened since then. I turned 30, almost bought a house, my best friends hubby made it home from the desert, my sister moved in with us, Novella's grades have gotten better, threw a baby shower, my cousin's hubby deployed AGAIN, and the list goes on.

One thing in particular is bothering me today. Because my mom is the youngest of 6 my Granny was already in her 50's when I was born. So, for as long as I can remember she's always made comments like "Well, I'm not gonna be here much longer". I even remember when I was little and hanging out in her house finding things that I liked I would say, "Granny, can I have this when you die?" I was young and didn't really grasp the truth of 'die'. Now that I'm older and have children of my own I realize just how precious, delicate, and short life is. When I was a teenager I was in denial and swore that my Granny was going to be the first person to live forever. Oh, how I wish that was true. My Granny is one of the only consistently good memories from my childhood. I wish, so badly, that my girls could have the same relationship with her that I do. Sometimes, I think some people know when their time is coming. Lately, there seems to be something different in my Granny's voice when she makes those "I won't live forever" comments. The final straw was our last conversation. She said she's sending me some of the things that I've sent to her over the last couple of years. She wants to make sure I have them in case something happens to her. It's killing me. Am I overreacting or is the end near? I don't know what to do. We can't afford to fly out and though I've told her I will buy her a ticket to see me I'm not so sure she will. I need to see her, even if it is only one more time. Should I suck it up and put it all on a credit card, fly out, rent a car, and spend time with her? Chris is in the same predicament with his grandpa. I know we can't afford it but at the same time we can't afford to not go. I know we would regret it for the rest of our lives if something was to happen to one of them.

So, any of you in California who may be reading this. We might have to come home for a couple weeks this summer. But, if we do and you want to see us we'll either be in Phelan or Lake LA. No special trips anywhere. We love you all and want to see you all but this trip, if it happens will be for two special reasons...to spend a week with Granny and a week with Grandpa. That's it. No trips to Wheatland, no trips to Disneyland, no trips to Oceanside, no trips to anywhere. Just Phelan and Lake LA.

House Poor

2008-01-15T22:53:00.000-05:00

It's amazing what the bank says we can afford for a house. No wonder so many people lose their houses. The bank says they will be more than happy to let us finance a quarter of a million dollars to buy a house. Are they nuts? We are people with great credit and very minimal debt but there is no way we could afford a mortgage that high. We could afford it but then we'd have no clothes, no power, no food, no Christmas, no fun. We'd be able to sit in the cold, darkness or our new beautiful home. HA!! I'm thankful that Chris and I have our shit together and are smart enough to know what we can afford regardless of what the bank thinks we can afford. Right now we're looking at buying a small piece of property to put a modular home on. I'm optimistic that we'll find something and be able to move in around October. How cool would that be? It seems like this whole house hunting thing has swallowed my life.

My sister is T minus 5 days from moving here so that should help shift the focus a little. It'll give me a moment to clear my head for a day or two before diving back in head first. Chris is doing well, but working long hours this week. He hasn't worked long hours like this since we were in Oki so it's hard for all of us. There are some MLK things going on at the school and in one of them Isabella had to write her own version of "I had a dream..." Well, her dream is that Chris could stay home so our family can always be together. How sweet is that? Luckily his hours will only be long for this week and next week he'll be back to a normal shift. Novella is doing well. She's learning multiplication facts right now and I'm pleasantly surprised by her progress. In Kinder and first grade I could see her struggles with math but something happened at the end of second grade and now it kinda clicks for her. Sometimes I find her guessing the answers (of course getting them wrong) and it frustrates me, but when I see her applying herself and being successful it's awesome!!

Well, the new year has gotten off to a great start and with the plans we have 2008 should be one for the record books!!

Holiday

2007-12-30T15:53:00.000-05:00

What a whirlwind of fun we've had. Our friends, Laura, David, and the highly anticipated Layah, came on Christmas Eve and spent the night. We woke up to find that Santa brought Novella an MP3 player. (Not the iPod she'd hoped for but she still likes it) Isabella is now the proud owner of a puppy that grows and knows her name. This year most our our holiday funds were spent on a family present. WE GOT A WII!! It is so much freakin' fun but I think that one of the first things we'll need in the new year is Wii-holics anonymous. Our friends (who are not into video games) even had a lot of fun playing. I wouldn't be surprised if they have a Wii by the spring. lol I'm anxiously waiting for the release of Mario Kart for the Wii. It's on Joni!! We won't get any chores done and our children will starve to death! Maybe we'll lose a few pounds from missed meals as well. =D Speaking of food, dinner on Christmas was yummy but a little difficult to make. Chris and the girls only like turkey and mashed potatoes, and poor Laura is on a Vegan type diet at the moment. It was all figured out in the end and I think everyone enjoyed it. Got around to cleaning up and putting the decorations away today and now the house is getting back to normal.

No plans for New Years which is fine by me. The kids go to school on the 2nd so staying home will be good. So far I don't have any resolutions planned but I'm sure I'll think of one or two by the 1st. There are some things I'm looking forward to in 2008....Having family come to visit, two of our friends are having babies, possibly buying a house, new couches delivered in 2 weeks, Chris getting a line number for Tech., and David coming home. (Oh, he can get a line number for Master too!!)

Well, I guess that's it for now. I must go and pry the Wii remote out of my oldest child's hands so that she can help me make dinner. =D

Sweet Novella

2007-12-18T22:12:00.000-05:00

Novella had a performance at school today. Chris and I went and watched it in the afternoon. It was pretty interesting because we found our seats in the cafeteria, where the stage is, and shortly after that the classes began to file in. The WHOLE school was in the cafeteria and it wasn't cramped. Definitely different that Killin, where we had to have 2 or 3 assemblies to accommodate the student body.

Anyhow, Novella thought that only Chris was going because I told her that I would see the performance that would be in the evening. Needless to say, she was pleasantly surprised to see me.

The performance was about 5 important American inventors with a fun version of Jingle Bell Rock thrown in for the holidays. The kids did awesome, it was a very cute and funny performance. Anyhow, after Novella got home from school we had a little chit chat about it. She'd been talking about it day and night for a week so I was anxious to see how she felt it went and to tell her she did so well. She said she felt great about it and then said she cried a few tears right at the beginning and at the end. I asked her why, very concerned. Her response, "I was so full of joy and happiness." I am very proud of her, but it means the world to me to know that she is proud of herself.

I LOVE MY GIRLS!!!

Novella's Room

2007-12-11T19:55:00.000-05:00

It was a bit more difficult to find something for Novella. When we first discussed her room options she wanted dinosaurs, sharks, dragons, oh, and High School Musical 2. How in the world do you mix all that together. Luckily I found some bedding with cool colors she liked and no real 'theme' that we'd be stuck with.

As you can see, the bedding has circles all over it. They're mostly brown, blue, and green. I found some circle wall stickers online and Novella told me which one's to put where. She's way more creative than me. I was really happy with the way her whole room turned out.

Here's another one of the walls with a cute little Happy Bunny poster. Novella loves all the sayings like "I'm not spoiled. I deserve all my stuff" and "Not listening".

Here's the lamp that I did to match Novella's theme. She doesn't have fowers but it was the only thing in the right color scheme. I love the fur.

This is a temporary decoration in Novella's room. Her NEW bike! She hasn't even had a chance to ride it. As soon as Isabella's gets here we'll be rockin' and rollin'.

Isabella's Room

2007-12-11T19:29:00.000-05:00

I wanted to get window treatments up before I posted pics of the girls' rooms but I can't wait any longer.

Isabella (with a little encouragement from me) chose to do her room with a Tinkerbell theme. I think the walls are a little plain but maybe with some purple shelves and other accessories on the walls it will help brighten it up.

Here's her Tinkerbell bedding. Apparently we grabbed the full size comforter instead of the twin so it completely covers her whole bed. :)

Here's a cute Tink area rug I found online. It definitely helped add some color to the room.

The poster and wall stickers add a little to the design but we still need some color. I'm trying to avoid painting because I don't want to have to paint it back when we leave.

We bought each of the girls a very plain lamp and I thought they needed some sprucing up. A trip to Michaels saved the day. I'm not creative or artistic by any means so this was very exciting for me. This is Isabella's.

Chinese Take-out

2007-12-03T17:43:00.000-05:00

Tonight we decided to try the Chinese take-out restaurant across the street. Yummy! We hadn't had Chinese take-out in years. Anyhow, we all got fortune cookies and I found Chris' to be a little funny, and ironic. Here it is....Today, your mouth might be moving but no one is listening. HA!!! He got a good laugh too.

Financially Responsible Children

2007-11-28T11:06:00.000-05:00

We're going to a FREE seminar tonight on how to raise financially responsible children. How cool is that. It's being sponsored by the PTA. The girls will go to a workshop for kids while parents go to a separate workshop. I can't wait.

Sushi....sorta

2007-11-26T14:04:00.000-05:00

I have been so desperate for a taste of Japan that I broke down today and bought some store made sushi. I originally went to the store in search of edamame (soy beans), fresh or frozen, I didn't care which. We love 'em and they're so good for you. Anyhow, no luck with the edamame but at the meat counter they had some freshly made sushi. The only variety that I was familiar with was the California roll, which, by the way, I'm not very fond of. I got 'em anyway and they weren't too bad. My only question...Is it still sushi when made with imitation crab? K - gotta go wrap some presents.

Heaven

2007-11-20T12:15:00.001-05:00

It has been over 4 years since I've had a baked sweet potato. Right now, for lunch, I'm eating a warm, fresh baked sweet potato. No sugar, no butter, no salt, just a plain ol' baked sweet potato. It is so yummy. This is one of the good things about being back in the land of plenty.

The New World : Part 2

2007-11-12T22:02:00.000-05:00

So, we wake up Monday morning and get ready to go get my new car. This is the first really major purchase Chris and I have ever made and it was exciting and scary all at the same time. I was a little worried because I didn't test drive it and some of the accessories I chose were not on the sample cars they had in Okinawa. So, I didn't really know what I was getting. I was more than impressed. I had read a lot of reviews online and wasn't sure if I was going to like it a lot, but it didn't matter because we need at least one reliable car and the Caliber is the only one we could afford (besides that nasty four letter F word kind) and that fit into what we were looking for. There is some road noise but with the upgraded stereo system and the extra sound proofing it's not bad. There's more than enough power for what I need and the blue light up cup holders are freakin' awesome! I originally ordered a Sunburst Orange and at the last minute changed it to Steel Blue. Very glad I did!!

After getting the car we had to meet with our realtor to start looking at houses. Well, while we were in between Okinawa and Virginia she stopped working for the Real Estate company that we were using through a home buying program with our credit union. We ended up losing a whole day of house hunting but got it figured out in the end. The girls did an amazing job of staying patient and well behaved through our days and days of looking and driving. After all was said and done we moved into an apartment. Not what we wanted but, as I've told a few other people, as much as I want to own my own home, I'm not willing to sacrifice the location I want. I have no interest in owning a 2000 sq. ft. home with a two car garage in the GHETTO! I would rather live in a smaller, older home that's situated in a nicer neighborhood so I don't have to worry about our safety as much. Here's the view from our balcony, the foliage really helps to make a parking lot look pretty decent.

Somewhere in there we managed to find the time to take the kids to Chuck E. Cheese and on Halloween we found a small neighborhood off base for some Trick-or-Treating. The girls made out like bandits!! Here they are all dressed up and ready to go...

We moved into the apartment on the 7th and Chris had to go to work on the 8th and 9th so the girls and I were without wheels for two days. Not too bad, though. A few cold walks around the complex and a couple of Mario Cart battles on the DS's and we were good to go. Plus I had a bunch of extra homework things for the girls to do so they didn't have time to get bored.

On the 10th we went and picked up Chris's new truck. Well, it's not new but it is to him! HA! He's always wanted a Dodge Ram and now he has one. He may have to get a second job just to be able to afford the gas. Sucks for him! On the way home from picking up the truck we stopped at Wal Mart and went hog wild buying new items for the house. Bathroom supplies (shower curtains, rugs, etc.), lamps, beds for the girls, and a plethera of other items. Here's some pics of the girls helping to assemble their beds.

I've learned that the military does not come close to providing you with enough items or money to buy the items necessary when you move. Moving overseas wasn't bad, and moving from an overseas location to another overseas location wasn't bad, but moving stateside from an overseas location SUCKS ASS!! My bed, couches, dining room table, chairs, and other major furniture, will not be here until the middle of December some time. We were basically given 10 days to find a house and move into it. What the hell am I supposed to sleep on, eat on, relax on? The floor. Yep, that's right! I don't even have cooking utensils. They have this place on base called a "loan locker" for people pcsing. This is a few of the items I got to borrow...2 small saucepans, a small stock pot, a can opener that doesn't work and a knife that cuts worse than a spork. I got 2 small corningware dishes with lids but I don't have any pot holders, a rectangular cookie sheet that doesn't fit a frozen pizza, and 4 2" thick single wide camping mattresses. The really useful items I got from there were a coffee pot (I need my java!) and a large plastic collander that I really like.

Enough venting. Remember when I said I didn't think I'd ever make it back to Okinawa, well, we found out some news when Chris was inprocessing. When he joined the AF he chose F-15 Avionics Apprentice as his job. When we were in England they added a couple air frames to his career field which meant there was a possibility he'd work on a different kind of plane. When we left England we headed to Okinawa and he was still working on the F-15. Well, then they introduced a new air frame, the F-22, to his career field. When it came time to leave Okinawa we found out he'd be working on that frame, here at Langley. He was very excited for the change. Well, while inprocessing, he found out that they've decided to take the F-22 out of the original career field and move it to a career field that has air frames that are not assigned to Kadena AB in Okinawa. Therefore, it's practically impossible for us to ever get assigned there again! :( I hope, that someday, I can work my way back over there.

Sunday we decided to do a little geocaching near our house. Figured it's a fun, inexpensive way to get to know the area. Found some neat little places but no cache's. Needless to say, the girls had fun, the dog had a blast, and I got some Starbucks!!

Fast forward to Monday...Chris had the day off and we kinda just vegged out and did laundry. Tuesday ~ Chris went back to work but he has his own truck now so the girls and I had all day to run errands. First stop...Yorktown Elementary School. YAY!

The New World: Part 1

2007-11-09T08:08:00.000-05:00

Well, this is gonna take up some room and time so there will be several blogs on our trip to The New World. They will also take a few days to get done so be patient.

Where to start? I guess the AMC terminal at Kadena is a good one. Our show time was 7 am and our flight time was 11 am. I figured that the terminal would open at 7 and if we got there a half hour early we'd be one of the first in line. NOPE!! You had to be checked in by 7 and I still have no idea what time they actually opened. There was a long ass line waiting for us to stand in. UGH!! Finally get done with that and we go upstairs to enjoy a quick breakfast. By the time we're done eating they are letting people through the gate so we say a quick tearful goodbye to our friends and proceed to find a seat and wait some more. It's finally time to load the buses that take us to the waiting hunk of metal that will fly us out of paradise. After almost everyone is loaded, and they're about to close the doors, Novella realizes that she left her safari hat, that her teacher gave her as a special gift, in the terminal. The staff were kind enough to let Chris off the plane to find it, which he did, sitting with Isabella's jacket. When everyone was settled, and the plane began it's taxi to the runway, I lost it. I broke down and cried like a baby. Something inside me told me I'd never make it to Okinawa again. (More on that in future issues)

The flight to Yokota was quick and uneventful. Godiva didn't go #1 or #2 in her kennel, nor did she go in the 10 minutes I had to walk her while we were there.

Back on the plane for the long flight to Seattle. The flight was smooth for the most part. The last 20 minutes was filled with turbulence and it didn't sit well with the girls. They proceeded to projectile vomit about 1-2 minutes apart from each other when we were about 10 minutes from landing. Not a great experience for them or us.

Once we went through Immigration we proceeded to get our luggage so that we could go through Customs. Well, it was just our luck that the airport was short-handed and it took over an hour and a half to get our luggage. In the mean time the girls each felt the effects of turbulence one more time. When we finally reached Godiva we found that, once again, she didn't use the restroom in her kennel. We tried to walk her at the airport but there were too many sights and sounds for her to relax long enough to go.

We hopped on a shuttle to the hotel. If you ever go to Seattle, and want to stay close to the airport, then stay at the SeaTac Double Tree. OMG!! A beautiful roaring fire when you walk in, complimentary, warm cookies when you check in, friendly staff, Starbucks in the hotel, the most comfortable beds you have ever slept in, and very nice rooms. Definitely worth every penny. We were there for less than 24 hours, ate 3 or 4 times, but spent most of our time sleeping. It was an eat, sleep, eat, sleep, eat, sleep, etc. routine. I wish we could have stayed longer! *Oh yeah, Godiva finally relieved herself*

Sunday morning, bright and early, jump on a plane to Chicago. FOG! I'm not sure how long our flight was delayed but when we finally arrived in Chicago, at gate 36 or 37, we had minutes to run to gate 8 for our connecting flight. Luckily there was a McDonalds near the gate and we were able to grab a bite to eat while in the air.

We arrived in Norfolk, VA on Sunday night, to the smiling faces of our close friends, Laura and David, that we hadn't seen in 4 years. What a great surprise. It's always daunting to go to new places, especially when they seem foreign. We've been living outside of America for 7 years and definitely feel like foreigners. So, to have familiar faces the minute we land was very comforting. Our sponsor also met us at the airport and between all the help it only took forever, as opposed to forever and a day, to get out of there. Luggage, check; Godiva, check; rental car, check. Drive to Langley, get our ghetto, yet pet friendly room, and off to eat a near midnight meal at IHOP! Who would have thought there'd be 30 other people wanting to eat IHOP late Sunday night? So, by the time we got back to our room it was late and we were beyond tired.

Believe it or not, our trip was just beginning. More on that in future blogs of The New World.

Japanese Bath House

2007-09-27T04:02:00.000-04:00

Great experience today. Missed Joni on this one so much. Girl, you would have loved it.

For 800 yen (less than $8) I was able to spend a couple hours relaxing in some cool and warm natural spring water. There's a ladies locker room and a men's locker room; however, there are no changing rooms. There was one bathroom with a toilet which my friend, Tab, and I used to change into our swimsuits. All the locals just strip naked and change right in front of their locker. Well, this was our first time and we weren't quite ready for all the openness. As you exit the locker room there's a hot spring spa. In order to use the spa you have to be naked AND you have to go through a traditional washing routine to rid yourself of lotions, perfumes, etc. This hot spring wasn't something we were ready for so we skipped it and headed straight outside to the co-ed pool. At first glances it looked like a regular chlorine pool. It wasn't. It was filled with cool, almost cold, spring water. It felt so silky and smooth on the skin. After a while there we moved to another co-ed area that looked like a miniature lazy river without the current and floaters in rafts. The water was the same silky, smooth spring water as the cool pool but it was warm. Not hot like a hot tub (I can't stand hot tubs) but warm like the most relaxing bath water you've ever been in. It was so nice to just sit and talk and relax the afternoon away. After that we headed back to the locker room that had showers with complimentary shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. There was also an area with sinks and mirrors that provided complimentary facial wash, toner, and moisturizer. After rinsing in the shower we dried off a little and went to an area that had Doctor Fish. Because this was a spa the fish were there for cosmetic reasons and not medical reasons. All we did was sit on a bench with some of the locals and enjoyed the tickling sensation of the fish eating away the dead skin on our feet and lower legs. Your 800 yen fee includes 10 minutes with the Doctor Fish but you can purchase more time if you'd like. All in all it was a great afternoon with a great friend. I look forward to going back with Chris and the girls. I may even go back with some girl friends to enjoy time in the "naked" hot spring. Ha ha!!

Neglected

2007-09-24T08:59:00.000-04:00

That's how my poor little blog must feel. It's been almost a month since my last blog. A lot has happened since then. WOW! Where do I begin...you'd think that since I sold my car and can't leave the house much that I'd have all the time in the world to blog. NOT! I have all the time in the world to see all the people in America that have a miserable life and go on Dr. Phil to air their dirty laundry. Oh, and watch mind numbing shows like The Hills, Hell Date, and Dr. 90210. I'm pretty sure that my IQ drops a point or two with every episode I watch. Ha!

Since the last time I blogged... Isabella has told me "Mommy, you were right, my teacher IS really fun.", I've decided to stop communicating with my dad until he grows up and can learn to love my sister unconditionally, sold my car, realized that I may actually, literally die if I can't get good sushi in VA, read a great book called Band of Sisters : American Women at War in Iraq, scheduled my final pedicure in Okinawa, found out that my other sister is getting married, and have become very proud of my husband for the effort he's putting into studying for promotion.

Two very sad events took place as well. About 5 days after our fence was removed, our cats decided they didn't want to come in at 10 pm so they stayed out all night. The next day, only one came back home. The one that didn't has/had a heart defect so I thought maybe she went to die. Well, unfortunately, 10 days later, our other cat went out in the morning and we never saw her again. I'm not sure what happened. We searched the neighborhood, asked people, saw no signs of a traumatic event, but neither of them have returned. We do live close to the jungle and in that jungle live a pack of wild dogs and who knows how many deadly Habu snakes. It is quite possible that one, the other, or both took our cats. Surprisingly, the girls have handled it well, better than me in fact. Even Godiva has felt lonely at times. Even though they weren't best of friends I think she enjoyed terrorizing them from time to time. We're thinking of getting her a friend when we get settled in VA.

Well, not sure how much I'll be able to blog in the coming weeks. So, the next time you hear from me I may be in VA.

First day of school '07

2007-08-27T19:07:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was the first day of school! Woo Hoo! Novella is now an older in Mrs. Hall's class. Isabella got Mrs. Staroscik but she goes by Mrs. Star. Anyone by that name has got to be cool, right!! She is the best teacher I could hope for besides Mrs. Hall. I wish we could stay here the whole year!! Isabella said there are some bad boys in her class so she's going to try to avoid them at all costs because they get yelled at a lot. :) Novella has some boys in her class that are also well, for lack of a better term, boys. They were in her class last year so she's prepared to deal with them. :D As for me, well, it was so nice to stroll through the commissary w/o children in tow yesterday. I'm off to the exchange today. I don't need anything in particular but the time alone will be nice! LOL! Then I'll come back to do the oh so dreaded dishes and work out. I got this game for my PS2 (yes, I know, we're behind the times but I don't care). It's a workout game and there's a 12 week program that you follow. So far it's awesome. I haven't had a workout this good since I did some kickboxing in England. My abs are sore, my legs are sore, my shoulders are sore. I can't wait to see the results after 8 weeks. We'll be PCS'ing so I'll have to take a break for a bit. :( Okay, I'm off to shop! Enjoy these pics of the girls!

REALITY....

2007-08-12T01:12:00.000-04:00

is beginning to set in. There's a man in my backyard tearing down my fence. I don't remember what my backyard looks like without a fence. One of our friends will be coming to get the swing set soon. Not today, but within the next few weeks I'm sure. My car is up for sale and, though I haven't received any calls yet, the thought is slightly disturbing. I remember the day we flew into Okinawa. I looked out the window, before we had even landed, saw the beautiful blue waters and fell in love. I'm excited to be going to America, the New World, the land of plenty, but it's really hard to leave something I love so much. It's home, it's familiar, it's enjoyable, it's safe, it's amazing, it's historical. I've moved around some and I don't ever remember feeling this sad about leaving a place.

On a lighter note, the weather is getting better. If we're lucky the sun may peek through the clouds before the day is over. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Until next time....peace!

Pool Party

2007-07-31T18:41:00.000-04:00

The pool party for the girls was a lot of fun. They got a lot of money and some really neat gifts. The best part was having the pool to ourselves from 6 pm to 8:30 pm. As the sun went down a couple of the kids said to their mom "Are we gonna swim in the dark?!" It was so cute. It was also the easiest party I've every thrown for the girls. Not a lot of set up or clean up. The cakes were cool too. If you click on the picture it will show you a larger version of it so it's easier to see. :)

What I believe

2007-07-27T20:56:00.000-04:00

My oh so awesome cousin Jen sent me this comment to my last post...

"So...being totally philisophical here, I'd be interested in a post, either here or on myspace, explaining why you believe in what you believe, or rather why you don't believe, etc. What is your philosophy on life and all things spiritual if any. Just curious. =)"

I'm not sure if I've been asked this question before. Maybe I have but not in this manner. This is a question spawned from real curiosity, not a "You don't believe in God so does that mean you worship the Devil?" type of curiosity.

First, the WHY. WHY I believe what I believe is pretty plain and simple. Because it makes sense to me.

I believe in science. I believe that our planet, our solar system, and the universe are constantly evolving. I believe that when we die, that's it, we die. I believe that the majority of the world knows right from wrong, even without the influence of Heaven and Hell. I believe that organized religion is the root of all the major conflicts in the world, and that, in itself, is enough proof for me. I don't have a NEED to believe in God, Heaven, Hell, or any of that other stuff. Does this mean I am amoral? Definitely not. As I said before, we know right from wrong. I believe in respect, honesty, pride, and in being a positive contributor to society.

Does this mean that I have conflicts with those who are of the religious nature or just plain believe in Heaven, Hell, and the Holy Ghost? Absolutely not. They're just not as cool as me! :) Just kidding. The majority of my friends and family are people of Faith and I'm totally cool with that. They have their reasons and I RESPECT that. Don't get me wrong, prayer at the dinner table makes me really uncomfortable but, if it's in their home, I try to be as respectful as possible.

You can ask me this same question in 5 or 10 years and I'm sure my answer will have some variations. I've had these beliefs since I was 10 or 11, maybe younger, and though the main parts have stayed the same, the details have EVOLVED through the years. Life has taught me new things and I've been exposed to different lifestyles and cultures from other parts of the world. I hope this explains why and what I believe. If you have more questions, comments, or just want to philosophize, let me know. I'm open!! Love ya JEN!!

I got tagged...

2007-07-21T20:35:00.000-04:00

THE RULES: List 8 facts/habits about yourself. Post the rules at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. Tag 8 people and post their names, go to their blogs and leave them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and ask them to read your blog. So here it is. 8 things about me that you probably know or don't know (deep, eh?)...

1. I bite my fingernails. It's a nasty habit, I hate it, but no matter what I try (nasty tasting stuff from the store, Tabasco) I can't quit. It's easier to quit smoking than to quit biting my nails.

2. I, like my cousin Jen, hate doing dishes. It was Chris' job for a while but with two classes and 12 hour shifts at work he couldn't hang so now we're back to dirty dishes sitting in the sink. As a matter of fact, I should be doing them now but blogging is so much more fun! :)

3. I play Neopets. It's this online game for kids but it's fun. Go ahead, laugh if you want. :P

4. I love raw fish but I can't stand cooked fish.

5. My kids have spent most of their lives overseas. Novella is almost 8. She has spent a total of (not consecutive) 17 months on American soil. Isabella is almost 6. She has spent a total of (not consecutive) 4 months on American soil.

6. Sometimes I do more for other people than I do for my family. This is something that I'm trying to work on.

7. I don't believe in God or Allah or Buddha or Satan or any of that religion stuff.

8. My best friend lives over 7000 miles away from me. :(

All the people I'm gonna tag are on myspace 'cause I don't have many blogger friends.

JONI
DOE
BIRD
JULIA
MADAME M
ALI
HUNNY POO
NESSA

Visiting an old friend one last time

2007-07-18T20:40:00.000-04:00

A couple of months ago we decided to plan our last trip to Okuma. Chris took leave and we had planned 5 days of fun in the sun. The typhoon shortened our trip by two days but we still managed to do all the things we wanted while there. Day one (Monday) was spent on the drive up, unpacking, going to the beach to boogie board and body surf, then grilling some yummy steaks for din din. One place we had never been during our 4 year stay here was the northern most part of the island, Hedo Point. There were some geocache's up there so we decided to kill two birds with one stone on day two. Here's the pic from there...

After we were completely zapped from the heat and humidity while geocaching we headed back to Okuma and signed up for some rides on the SeaDoo's! Chris and Novella rode together and Isabella and I rode together. It was my first time on one and it was so much fun! A great way to cool off on a hot summers day. For dinner we headed to the club and enjoyed some of Okuma's own cheese lumpia and fresh, Okinawan grown, sweet as hell pineapple. YUM! Day three was a veg out day, at first. I sat in the shade and got some good reading time in, the girls and Chris dug a huge (we're talking 2 feet deep, 2 feet wide, and 5 or 6 feet long) hole in the sand at the play ground. At around noon the TC 3 announcement came. UH OH! Chris headed up to see if they're doing para-sailing still. He came back, announced our sail time, and said they were expecting TC 2 on Thursday (Day 4) evening. At TC 2 Okuma closes down and everyone has to go home. :( Well, at around 4:00 we went para-sailing. OMG! Talk about amazing. The views were spectacular and the water was pristine. This time Isabella went with Chris and Novella went with me. Both of the girls loved it. Isabella was such a trooper. She was totally against going on it but Chris told her that for his birthday he wanted her to para-sail with him. Well, being the kind hearted person that Isabella is, she wanted to give her daddy exactly what he wanted for his birthday. She put aside her fear and went for it. In the end, she wanted to do it again and had more fun para-sailing than on the SeaDoo's. :) Here's a pic of Novella and me...

Day four we are woken up at about 7 a.m. to the sounds of the Okuma gods. We are now in TC 2, please pack you stuff up and go home. Okuma is now closed. :( Bummer! So, we pack up, and head home for the typhoon. To know that this was probably our last trip to Okuma makes me very sad. Chris will be gone for 3 weeks next month so the girls and I may head up there for a day or two. Okuma holds so many fond memories for us. If it weren't for Okuma there would be no cheese lumpia or Okuma Rummy. My family wouldn't have memories of camping in the dead heat of summer or fireworks on the beach, all shared with our best friends in the world. I have to say, I think the thing I'm going to miss most about Okinawa is Okuma. There are some close seconds, but Okuma will always have a special place in my heart. Until next time...PEACE!

Typhoon aftermath

2007-07-18T20:23:00.001-04:00

Well, we survived the typhoon. I'm sure, however, that had we been in a wood framed home, with a shingled roof, or a mobile home we would have faired a lot worse. The extent of our troubles were a few leaky windows, fixed by one towel on each sill, and a broken tree. There were a lot of tree branches scattered throughout the yard but that's about it for us. Our neighbors fence got knocked down on one side and all over the island there were snapped and uprooted trees. Last I heard there were 17 people injured and no deaths. We didn't even lose power, phone, or the holy internet. Below is a pic of the tree in my front yard that snapped. When we first moved here it was 5-6 inches shorter than me, with the trunk being 2-3 inches in diameter, and we considered pulling it out but it seemed rooted pretty good so we changed our minds. It's location was less than desirable, it got in the way of the sidewalk if I didn't keep it trimmed. It was in need of a trim and I almost did it before the typhoon. Glad I didn't waste my time. Anyhow, at the time of it's demise, it stood several inches taller than me and the trunk was about 7 inches in diameter. I was talking on the phone with Joni and looking out my front door watching it bend back and forth(this was just as the typhoon started to hit it's peak strength). I told her that I didn't think it would make it through the typhoon. Joni and I said our good byes and 30 seconds later, BAM, it snapped. Luckily the ground was soft from the rain and the stump and roots came out easily for Chris.

4 years I've been waiting..

2007-07-13T00:13:00.000-04:00

for a big typhoon and it's here. Typhoon Man-Yi. Pretty spectacular so far. The picture isn't great but do you see the eye of the storm? Do you also see the small white bit to the right of the eye? That's the entire island of Okinawa, about two, maybe three, times the size of the eye itself. The side of the island the eye is on happens to be the side where I live and in this picture it's slightly north of our house. This baby is awesome, last I heard it's about a Category 4. I will post pics of the aftermath tomorrow. We'll probably be in TC-1E the rest of today and should be in All clear tomorrow. Wanted to take some video shots but we're out of tape, go figure. Mother Nature is awesome!

Crapper

2007-06-16T05:20:00.000-04:00

Here are two pics of a public toilet we found at a park while out Geocaching in February. I've been meaning to post them just been too busy!

F-22's

2007-06-11T06:13:00.000-04:00

Yup, that's right. We just found out today that Chris is going to an F-22 squadron. I think I'm more excited than he is. The aircraft he's been working on have all been 20-30 years old with technology that's 50 years old. He's now going to be dealing with modern aircraft and technological systems that will probably blow his mind. Can you imagine? Not just that but, most people, in their jobs, do the same thing day in and day out with not much changing, and if it does then it's usually gradual or very minute. This leap is huge. It's a whole new airframe with drastically different systems. The crappy part (come on people, it's the military, there's always a crappy part) is that, since there are only 2 or 3 active F-22 squadrons, he'll probably be gone a lot. They like to take 'em all over the place and show 'em off. You know, kinda like when you get a new car, you gotta take it to your friends house and stuff. So, they'll be going to places all over. I'm hopeful that the morale where he'll be working will be better than it is here. This place has really worn him out and I'd like to see him feel better about going to work. If it wasn't for all the crap at his work we'd probably stay here longer. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to be going back stateside, but...this place is PERFECT for raising a family. Anyway, I just wanted to send an update. I'm having trouble finding a house near good schools and in a decent neighborhood. I've found about 2 or 3 but who knows what will be left by the time we get there in November. Love to all!

I couldn't help myself...

2007-06-07T04:45:00.000-04:00

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

Minus 1

2007-06-02T19:45:00.000-04:00

Well, we got sad news this week. We won't be able to take one of our kitties with us because the flight will probably kill her. When we got to Okinawa we adopted an adult cat and two kittens. The kittens had eye problems but we were told a simple procedure would fix it. When we took them for their first check-up they told us that one of the kitties had a heart problem and they'd need to do an EKG and x-rays to assess the situation. In the end they said that her heart was working at 30% of a normal heart and if she lived to be 6 months old then she'd probably have a decent life. They also said that when we PCS'd she could ride in the cabin of the airplane. Well, I took the cats for their annual shots and wanted the Dr. to look over Squeaks to see how she's doing and make sure we'd still be able to take her. They did more x-rays and informed us that her heart is now operating at 15% and that the flight would more than likely kill her because it's so long and the stress would be too great. We are all very sad, especially Isabella. Hopefully we are able to find her a good home before we leave. I don't know what we'll do if we can't find someone to take her.

Other than that things are going well for us. Soccer season is over, Girl Scouts is almost over, and school is almost over. YAY!! Chris and I really wanted to go climb Mt. Fuji this summer but between the cost and the dates of the tours I don't think we're gonna. BUMMER!!

We're working with a few Realtors in VA and waiting to hear back from our broker. It's been a bit difficult to find a home near a school we like but we're optimistic that we will find something.

Langley AFB

2007-05-16T09:08:00.000-04:00

Looks like we're headed to Virginia. I'm not real excited about it but seeing as how we don't have much of a choice, I'm dealing with it. At first glances I'm not sure we'll be able to afford a house. If we have to live on base the girls may be home schooled because the public schools near base are SHITTY. Now, I just have to wait until my Granny gets back to Cali so I can call her to see if she still wants to live with us. VA may be too cold for her. Right now, the only positive to this I see, is we have friends living in Chesapeake. That's it. One good thing and too many bad to list. What can you do? I'm just ready to get there so I can see if I like it or if it's as bad as I'm anticipating. I'm usually an optimistic person but this has really thrown me for a loop. Anyhow, we'll probably be there for 4 years and if things don't go well, we'll be back over seas to raise our kids in a safe environment.

Consider this your formal invitation to visit us in Virginia. Just make sure and let us know you're coming!! LOL! We'll be poor bastards and will probably barely be able to afford food so don't expect us to do much travelling!! We could probably make it as far west as Wichita, Kansas but that's about it.

Okay, I'm tired and becoming delirious so I'm off to bed!!

Girl Scouts and Moving

2007-04-14T06:31:00.000-04:00

First, Girl Scouts. We are at the end of our Spring Break which was spent at Girl Scout Day Camp. The girls had so much fun and made so many new friends. I volunteered so that I could have something to do and get the girls in for a good price. I'd heard horror stories of past Day Camps but ours wasn't too bad. There a few hang ups the first day but nothing major. Other than having a few girls in our group that didn't listen well and whined occasionally we had a great time. Needless to say, I survived.

Now, on to the real important stuff. MOVING. Well, the list of bases that will have openings for Chris when we move in October came out. Here's our options~Langley AFB, Virginia:2 slots; Eglin AFB, Florida:1 slot; Tyndall AFB, Florida:1 slot. That's it. Chris is still going to apply for an instructor position at Sheppard AFB, Texas but if he doesn't get it then we're off to one of the three bases listed above. Sis just moved to Florida so it would be nice to be close to her but we also have friends near Langley so we'd be okay with that too. The sucky part is that we'll be further from Joni and David than we wanted. We should know within 4 weeks which base we're going to. As soon as we know we'll post it.

Feels so good...

2007-03-12T17:52:00.000-04:00

For the first time in our relationship I finally weigh less than my husband. I can't tell you how much that ROCKS!! I love it!!

Wanna buy a house!!

2007-03-03T17:51:00.000-05:00

So, we're coming back stateside and after living in run down, ancient houses ran by slumlords, better known as the Air Force Housing Office, we are so ready for own piece of the American dream. Joni and David are considering buying. Some friends of ours that left hear a couple years ago own 2 houses (if they can do it anyone can do it). My cousin and her husband are looking for property in So. Cal. My other cousin is looking for property in Florida. If all these folks were jumping off a bridge, damn straight I'd be right there behind them. No way am I gonna stand by watching as all these people get their own houses that they can paint any color they want and not have to take a class on how to lay those ugly 24x24 indoor/outdoor carpet tiles. (Yes, in my house, I have these carpet tiles, so did Joni. She had to take a class on how to install them before she could do it. They were already in the house when I moved in)

I've been looking on line in different areas and have been in contact with a few realtors but I'm not saying where they're located 'cause that's top secret information. Anyhow, one of them put me in contact with a mortgage specialist so that we could start on getting prequalified. I was so excited to hear back from him. This is what he put...

Andrea,
I received everything okay, wow you both have very high credit scores all in the 750 range. Please give me a breakdown as to what your income will be when you get transferred stateside such as base, housing etc. What is Christopher’s rank and what is the standing of his ETS. I’m assuming that he’s in for a full career correct? When are you to be transferred to stateside? It’s great that you carry a very low indebtedness and it would be great if you could buy a home prior to obligating yourself to an auto payment if you can.
You are good candidates for either a VA loan or FHA financing and since you are First time home buyers you have several other options for great terms on financing.

I knew our credit scores would be pretty good and that we currently have ZERO debt, but it's nice to hear it from someone in the financial industry. Hopefully with us buying the new car it won't hurt us too much. I'm so freakin' excited, I can't wait to move!!

Sushi

2007-03-03T05:43:00.000-05:00

I've lived in Okinawa, Japan for 3 1/2 years and today was the first time I went to a sushi restaurant. Can you believe that? Thanks to Chris, Novella, and Isabella's pickyness we've never made it to a sushi place. I've talked with some friends about going but we never made firm plans. Well, we knew Chris was leaving but 2 days ago we found out he was leaving earlier than planned so I decided that 'while the cat's away, the mice will play'. I called a few girl friends and told them to take me to their favorite sushi place. OH MY GOSH!! It was so freakin' good and super low on the Weight Watchers points. I can't wait to go again!! If you're interested in trying it here's a great web site to look at before you go!! SUSHI I also had edamame for the first time. I've had the dried seasoned soy beans before but never the boiled pods. Another OH MY GOSH is necessary for these. My friends informed me that you can buy them at the commissary in the frozen food section near the lumpia and eggrolls. That will definitely be added to my shopping list. I hope that wherever we go from here has a good sushi place 'cause I'll be there once or twice a week. This time I stuck with the common types...California roll, Alaska roll, and then I had some Salmon nigiri(my favorite), tuna nigiri, and yellow tail nigiri. Next time I'm gonna be adventurous and try some to the sushi with roe. Okay, well that's about it for now. I have pics from our trip to Okuma that I have to download and as soon as I do I'll post them. PEACE!

Artwork from the girls

2007-02-21T01:51:00.000-05:00

When Novella was in Kindergarten she did some art work and the school used it as a fundraiser and sold many different items, to include a refrigerator magnet that I sent as a gift to some of you. Well, the PTO is sponsoring it this year. Because we're pcsing this year we are trying to save save save so I won't be buying everyone a magnet. If you'd like to order a magnet or any of the other items being sold with Novella's and Isabella's artwork on them then check out the prices here. Email me what you'd like to order and when it comes in I will send it to you. You have to act fast because I can't front anyone the money. If you want it send me a check, made payable to me, and I'll order it for you. I need the money by March 10th so send it now. I will accept checks post dated up to April 1st. 100% of the money raised will go towards the art program. If you have any questions email me. Take care!!

I'm pretty proud of myself

2007-02-15T19:56:00.000-05:00

Went to the gym this morning after the girls went to school. It's the second time this week I've been able to get there. I've been working so much lately that the last time I went was about a month ago. Anyhow, the reason I'm so proud of myself is that I did 3 miles in 26 minutes and 38 seconds. That's less than 9 minutes a mile. Go ahead, laugh it up. I'm sure some of you can do it backwards but for me it's pretty good. Some more good news...My clothes are starting to get big. I have to wear a belt with all my pants and capris. I love it!! The hard part is dessert. I'm a sweet freak and going out to Chili's and not getting that lovely molten lava cake is driving me crazy. Maybe when I lose 20 pounds I'll treat myself to one, or half of one at least. Well, I'm off to the commissary. Lovin's to all!!

Scratch that...

2007-02-04T16:09:00.000-05:00

So, as it turns out, while my friend and I were planning our visit to the youth sports office on Monday to sign up to be soccer coaches, a young single Marine and his friend decided they'd show up before us. Scratch that last post; I'm off the hook! I haven't talked to him yet but he left a message on the machine and he sounds like he's gonna be a great coach.

This is how my day went yesterday(Sunday). Get up, write grocery list while kids sort their laundry, go to commissary while hubby and kids go to pick up rented carpet cleaner and swing by the PX to buy a few things. We all get home at about the same time, I put groceries away, Chris washes dishes and makes lunch. I go in to start the roast at about 1:45 while Chris is making sure all his laundry is in the hamper so that I can start laundry after the roast is in the oven. 2:00...a very important transformer for our entire neighborhood, we're talking several hundred houses, blows up. Seriously blows up. The good news...Nobody got hurt. The bad news...No roast, no laundry, no carpet cleaning. Talk about rotten!! Luckily we were able to get a refund on the carpet cleaner, and we'll have to try again next weekend. Dinner was spent at the Macaroni Grill, where I about ruined my diet because I couldn't get online to see what was healthy for me to eat. Power came back on at around 9 pm but I was already in bed so I woke up early this morning to start laundry.

Today should be good! Pedicure in the am and meeting at the school in the pm. No girl scouts and no soccer practice yet so the evening should also run smoothly. Take care!!

A new challenge...

2007-02-02T17:16:00.000-05:00

So, I signed my girls up for soccer a couple of weeks ago. A friend of ours is coaching the little kids so he asked if we wanted Isabella on his team. Duh! Unfortunately, there are 4 teams in Novella's age group that don't have coaches. Wouldn't you know it that Novella is on one of those teams. My friend Bobbie, who served as PTO secretary when I was VP, has a daughter on that team as well. We talked it over on the phone and decided that there is no way in hell that our girls are gonna miss out on soccer because there's no coach. So, we're gonna be the coaches!! Neither of us have ever played soccer and we know nothing of the sport. Totally clueless. That's not gonna stop us. We love our kids and we're gonna do what we have to do! Wish us luck. The good part of this is that I am going to resign from being Book Fair chairperson. That will save me a huge headache!! Okay, just wanted to post this before we head off today. Back up North in search of the elusive Cherry Blossoms!!

Weekend update

2007-01-28T05:22:00.000-05:00

Here I was thinking I was going to be able to post some beautiful cherry blossom pics but to my dismay there were no blossoms to photograph. I don't know if they bloomed the weekend before or have yet to bloom. Maybe we'll take a drive up again next weekend and see if things have changed. Even though there were no blossoms, and it's a 1.5 hour drive, it wasn't a wasted trip. We climbed a huge mountain that had 450+ stairs one way. Talk about a good workout!! Woo! We were also able to get in two cache's on the way to and from the festival. There are more in the area so another trip next weekend won't be too bad.

In other news, tomorrow is my weigh in day but with some peeks at the scale throughout the week I don't think it will be as good as last week. Though any loss is good, I'd like to lose at least 2.5 lbs. a week. We'll see.

Chris starts his first online class this week. It's actually his first non-military class since high school. He's already stressing out about it, but at least he's studying. He's also going to begin his application process for an instructing position at Sheppard AFB in Wichita Falls, Texas. Keep your fingers crossed for this one. Less than a two day drive to So. Cal. and a few hour drive to our second home in Wichita, Kansas.

The girls are doing well as always. Isabella is doing fantastic at reading and Novella is quickly improving now that she has glasses. Even her teacher is quite impressed with her improvement. By the end of the year I think she'll be more on point with where she should be.

Tax time is upon us. Isn't it crazy that we pay about $900 a year in federal taxes yet they give us a $5600 return? I know, seems crazy but it's true. I've tried to get Chris to change his withholdings so that we don't pay the $900 but he hasn't yet. There's no point in paying about $80 a month just to get it all back in February. I could use that $80 to go out to eat or put away for Christmas or buy shoes. No point in letting Uncle Sam reap the interest benefits, right! Maybe this little blurb will get Chris motivated to hook it up!!

Well, I guess that's all for now. Oh, I had a great birthday. I had to work but the students in the class I subbed for made me cards and a few brought be gifts. It was really sweet. My friend Joni made me the best picture slide show ever and sent me some girly bath stuff that I was in desperate need of. My sister sent me an email which was fabulous because I haven't heard from her since Thanksgiving. I got a lot of cards from friends and family everywhere. The girls gave me the cutest scented silk rose and a card. Chris got me a book that I've been dying for and Friday night we went on a date. Ooh la la. We went to play bingo. It was a lot of fun. He came within 2 numbers of winning many times and within 1 number once. Talk about stressing him out! I bingoed once. It was a $400 pot and I had to split it with one other person. Not too shabby!! Joni had a dream I would win and she was right. Now she needs to dream about winning the lottery!!

Take care all!!

Good week

2007-01-23T02:52:00.000-05:00

Well, as you can see I had a 5 lb. weight loss my first week on the WW program. I'm happy with that. The best part is that I was able to splurge and go to Sunday brunch with the family. Even though I didn't eat my usual Belgian waffle with strawberry topping and fresh homemade whipped cream on top, I still had a very tasty filling breakfast. Then, on the way home, we made a stop at Starbucks and I enjoyed my usual White Mocha. The difference is I got a smaller size, I had them make it with fat free milk, and they didn't put whipped cream on top. After all that I still stayed under on my points, hence the 5 lb. loss. This week may be a little more difficult since it's my birthday. Going to dinner and play Bingo on Friday. Hopefully I win but I don't plan on it since Joni isn't here. I'm still takin' my lucky dobber though!! LOL! Anyhow, Saturday we'll be heading up North to the Cherry Blossom festival so I'll be sure to get on here and post some pictures of that. The rest of the day will be filled with Geocaching!! My next post should have some pics. See you all then!!

Unsatisfied

2007-01-16T22:49:00.000-05:00

So, a few weeks ago I 'thought' I lost my ID card(I found it the next day). I couldn't find it and was tired of looking so I went and got a new one. The guy hands it to me and I almost died. I couldn't believe how much heavier I looked in my new ID as opposed to my old ID. To top it off I'm approaching my 29th birthday which puts me a year away from 30. I don't have a problem turning 30 and I don't have a problem being on the heavy side. The problem is being both at the same time. Obviously there's no way to avoid turning 30. So, since Weight Watchers worked so well for me last time I decided to do it again except this time I'm not going to 'take a break' while we PCS. That was my whole problem last time. My goal - On my 30th birthday I want to weigh what I did on my 20th birthday. Which means that I have 51 pounds to lose. As long as Chris can be strong when I'm feeling weak I shouldn't have a problem. I'll try and update my progress regularly. In the meantime, wish me luck!!

Random pics

2007-01-03T22:06:00.000-05:00

Here's a few random pics of the sites we've seen while out geocaching...

More geocaching

2007-01-03T21:46:00.000-05:00

Another fun week of geocaching. I wish the kids didn't have to go back to school and Chris didn't have to go back to work. I could spend everyday for the rest of my life caching. I know, I'm a freak. Anyhow, here are some recent pics. Bill found his first cache. It's a good thing we took him along because I'm not sure that Chris or I would have thought about climbing down this hole that was off the trail. Novella also found her first cache and was so proud. Chris found his first one this week too but we didn't take the camera with us so no pics of that. Enjoy!!

Good times!!

2006-12-28T03:49:00.000-05:00

What a great couple of weeks. Chris took leave the week before Christmas so we spent some quality time together. We've done some geocaching!! Isabella found her first one today.
She was super excited! Let me tell you all something. For those of you who pay fees for using a gym, you're wasting your money! Invest $100~$200 on a decent GPS unit and start geocaching. Oh my gosh! This is the coolest way to get out of the house and walking/hiking. I'm almost positive that there are more stairs on this little island than there are in the whole of California. The initial investment for the GPS is about all it costs. After that you take a sack lunch and you're good to go. We've discovered more parks in the last few weeks than we did the previous 3 years on the island. A couple of days ago we drove up to Camp Hansen and kidnapped our cousin who's deployed here. He's missing his family so we've tried to keep him busy when the USMC isn't using him. Speaking of which, Bill, did you lose a $20 bill? We found one in the truck that isn't ours. Here's a pic of him geocaching with us. He decided to take the road less traveled. LOL! Ask him about it!

We will be kidnapping him again on Saturday for some more treasure hunting. Hopefully, for him and his family, it will be one of our last weekends together in Okinawa. Keep your fingers crossed that he gets to fly home soon!!

What else is going on? Oh, for Christmas, the girls got camera's from our bestest friends and as soon as we get the film developed I'll post some pics that they've taken! As for me, well, I finally got some bling bling!

2 tcw BABY!! Okay, they're not real diamonds but they're not cz's either. This ring with real diamonds would cost about $3000. INSANE! I don't know if I'll ever have the nerves to spend $3000 of our hard earned money on a ring. The stones in my ring are Moissanite and cost a hell of a lot less($829 total cost) but, to me, are just as beautiful!! My hunny is so awesome!!

Okay, well, the kids are ready for dinner so I must be off. Before I go, here's a recent pic of our geocaching dog, Godiva. I wonder if I can train her to be like the narcotics dogs, only train her to find cache's instead. Now that's worth looking into!! LOL!

Change of plans

2006-12-15T08:34:00.000-05:00

Well, my last post was 10 days ago and I was so excited because my dad was supposed to be arriving. Due to unforseen circumstances that didn't happen and hopefully things will work out and he'll be here within a couple of weeks.

On a lighter note, I went and picked up our holiday layaways today. Chris and I usually get a dual gift each year. This year we got a GPS system so we could do a little Geocaching. We decided not to wait until Christmas to use it. :) The girls got out of school and we decided to take them to this cool pirate ship park near the beach. Time for them to play and for Chris to hunt down our first treasure. We took Godiva along, too, for her first out and about public appearance. We had so much fun. I'm sure we're gonna hit at least one, if not more, this weekend. Joni's gonna kill me because I forgot the camera for our first cache but I'll remember next time and post them. I added a little link to the right that will show you our progress.

Speaking of Joni, I just got off the phone with her. Novella was able to talk to Sarah, Shelby, and Joni for the first time since they left in August. She was on cloud 9 afterwards. Isabella is gonna be so bummed in the morning when she finds out that she slept through the whole thing.

Well, we have a weekend full of cookie baking, homework finishing, and geocaching so I'm off to slumber!

I may not be back on before Christmas so let me wish you all a Happy Holidays now. Love you!!

Look at my counter

2006-12-04T19:23:00.000-05:00

That's right peeps!! It says 0 days until my dad get's here!! You know why? 'Cause he get's here today. We gotta drive to the airport and pick him up tonight at 9 o'clock. Woo hoo! Can't wait. We are all so excited. He's gonna be here for 2 months but I have this feeling that it's gonna go by way too fast. I haven't spent Christmas with family(blood related that is) since 2002. This year my dad and my cousin will be here. YAY! Okay, I gotta go get a cup of joe! Love ya!

Lightning strikes and the thunder rolls...

2006-11-27T08:36:00.000-05:00

I got a new camera in February and love it. I've never had a photography class(thought I'd love to) and so while my pics aren't always the best, I love to practice!! Last night we had a good lightning storm after the girls went to bed so I thought I'd give it a shot. While none of the pics came out any good a few came out pretty cool so I thought I'd share them. If you look closely at a couple you can actually see the bolts of lightning. Remember, these were taken at about 9:00 at night and it was very dark because we only had a sliver of a moon. Enjoy! PS> If anyone has comments/suggestions as to how to get better pics of lightning at night I'm ready to learn!! PEACE!

Godiva

2006-11-20T08:29:00.000-05:00

Introducing the newest member of the Somm family. Her name is Godiva and she's a tan and chocolate Miniature Daschund. (Get it? Chocolate ~ Godiva ;P) She's only 5 weeks old and adorable as all get up. We weren't planning on getting a dog until we were back in America but yesterday we went to Pet Box (think PetSmart but a lot smaller) to get a new plant for my Guppies. (Yes, I have guppies as pets. I know they're feeder fish but they look cute in my little fish tank in my underwater themed bathroom. Ask Joni!!) Anyhow, when we go to Pet Box we always look at the dogs and cats and turtles and birds and beetles and anything else they have acquired since our last visit. So, true to custom, we trot on over to the cats and dogs to take a peek. One look with those oh so literal puppy dog eyes and we were hooked. I mulled it over while I looked for a new plant and after 20 minutes of contemplation we decided to throw caution to the wind and get her. She's so darn cute and has that so sweet puppy smell. As she grows I'll post more pics. 2 days until Turkey Day and 14 days until my dad gets here. Woot Woot! See ya!

Halloween

2006-10-31T02:32:00.000-05:00

Hope you all have a wonderful Halloween. Ours should be pretty good. There was a special event last night for the local nationals and they won't be allowed on base tonight so it should be pretty quiet compared to past years. I ordered the girls costumes over a month ago from AAFES online. Of course they're not here yet and trick-or-treating is in 2 hours. UGH!!! I called over the weekend and the most she could do for me was say that whenever they do finally get here I can take them to the local exchange for a full refund. In the meantime the exchange only had witch hats so my girls will be going as witches. I bought material for their trick-or-treat bags off eBay and it came in a week. I guess I should have ordered their costumes from there too! Either way, they're gonna have a blast tonight. Hope you all do too!!

ADORABLE!!

2006-10-21T07:50:00.000-04:00

Look at my adorable Princess! Isn't she so cute with her new glasses. She love's them. Oh, I guess her dad's pretty cute too! Hee Hee!

MIA

2006-10-15T18:35:00.000-04:00

Boy have I been busy. This book fair I'm coordinating really has me strapped for time. Between Chris' exercise at work, t-ball games/practices, both girls in Girl Scouts, substituting, and the book fair I don't have time for much else. Not even grocery shopping. The fair will be done on November 3rd so after that I should be functioning normally again. Oh, that'll give me 3-4 weeks to get ready for my Dad to get here! YAY! Well, Isabella has a dental appointment we have to get to. Love to all!

New Comments

2006-10-03T03:41:00.000-04:00

Look at these two new posts. What kind of a coward comes to my blog and posts such horrible comments anonymously? At least have the balls to put your name or show your face.

Regarding my “What day is it” post on August 20th

Anonymous said...
Its free and you knew the rules and you still bitch Im glad Im not married to you. I came across this site looking for some info on flights to Guam. I was hoping to find something useful.

Regarding my “A rough 5 weeks” post on September 9th

Anonymous said...
Bitch bitch bitch. If its that bad get out instead of taking those free flights and the other bennies

Anonymous, I wonder who pissed in your Cheerios this morning? First of all, regarding the posts. Correct me if I'm wrong but, last time I checked this is MY blog. It's a place for me to come and jot down what I'm doing, where I'm going, where I've been, how my family and friends are doing, and how I'm feeling. Almost like an Online Journal. By the way...Hello all my lovely friends and family. I'm pretty sure I can say anything I want. Right? Second, I don't really feel like I was bitching. That's not the tone I intended. I was merely stating facts as to things that are going on in my life as a spouse of an Active Duty Airman. I'm very proud of my husband (and all of my friends and family members) and the role he/they play in the fight for freedom! If, however, I do want to BITCH, then guess what. I can BITCH all I want because...IT'S MY BLOG! Do you know what cracks me up? After commenting on one post about how much I bitch Anonymous keeps reading my blog and posts another comment. So, who's really the one bitching? LOL!! It's so sad to see you Anonymous, so full of anger or jealousy or some other bad feeling, going around and leaving nasty comments on stuff that isn't intended for you and isn't about you. Until next time, keep on laughing. Thanks to Anonymous, I got a good laugh today!! P.S. Anonymous, learn how to use spell check.

A day in the life...

2006-09-25T08:18:00.000-04:00

of a Mom. Why do we commit ourselves to so many things? Is it because as a stay at home mom we feel the need to not only do the many things a stay at home mom does (bake, clean, cook, clean, grocery shop, clean, laundry, clean, pay bills, clean, wash dishes, clean) but we also feel we have to make it up to our husbands for the many hours they put in at work by volunteering ourselves for so many other things (book fairs, classroom help, other PTO stuff, Girl Scouts, team mom). Today was crazy. I don't know when I'm supposed to find the time to work out. You'd think that having both of my children in school would leave my schedule open to come and go as I please. WRONG! The school is doing pictures this week. Well, desperately in need of free school pics, I decide to volunteer. YES, volunteer for a full day and you get your school pictures free, for both of your children!! Can't pass that up. Well, I took a short break from that to get a wonderful volunteer started on making leaves for decorations at our book fair. Right after school I sent one child on the bus while I drove the other to her first Brownie meeting of the year. It wasn't worth my time to drive home during the meeting so I just hung out until it was over at 5. Straight home to do homework with the kids, have dinner, brush teeth, put on pajamas, read a story and go to bed. Tomorrow, I made time for the gym. YAY! Then it's off to the school at 11 to make more decorations! I'm thinking I'll be able to slow down around November 3rd; the day after the book fair ends! Wish me luck!

A week of Firsts

2006-09-13T01:27:00.000-04:00

What an amazing 7 days I've had. Isabella went to her first day of Kindergarten last week. I cried like a baby! She also had her first ever T-ball game! Look at the picture. Isn't she adorable?! She had a lot of fun and hit the ball twice! Another big first, for me personally, was that I substituted for the first time. I subed in a 4/5 grade class for two whole days. The kids were pretty good and we had a lot of fun. I'm off today and of course the two places I need to go to are closed on Wednesday. Guess I'll have to go tomorrow. Novella will play in her first coach pitch game on Saturday. I haven't been able to see her practice much because I stay at practice with Isabella so I'm looking forward to the game on Saturday. I'll post some more pics after that. Well, I'm off to get the girls from the bus soon. Take care!

A rough 5 weeks

2006-09-09T07:34:00.000-04:00

So, you'd think that our wonderful government would provide it's hard working and super sacrificing military members and their dependents with some good quality medical care. Especially to those stationed over seas who have no choice but to use the government medical facilities. Right? WRONG! Let me start by saying that Ross and Walmart are not the only reasons I can't wait to move back to America. I am so looking forward to same week appointments (maybe they'll even have same day appointments!), a prescription for something other than what the military deems a cure all (Ibuprofin; they give it to you for everything. Your stomach hurts, oh it's inflamed, take some Motrin; You have a rash all over your body, Motrin will cure it; You have a cough that won't go away, yep, you guessed it, Motrin will fix it.) WHATEVER!! Let me go into details as to why this is so important for me to talk about right now. Well, actually there's a few reasons.

1. I have a friend that I know through Girl Scouts and PTO stuff. She had a 17 year old daughter. She was getting ready to start her Senior year in high school. Her step-dad (my friends hubby) extended his tour on island so that his step-daughter could graduate with all of her friends. For about 6-9 months the daughter had been complaining of not feeling well and kept getting UTI's. The hospital told her mother that they couldn't find anything wrong. About 5 weeks ago, on a Monday, her mother took her to the ER because she felt terrible. They admitted her, did blood work, an ultrasound and even a CAT scan. They sent her home the next morning because they couldn't find anything. Thursday afternoon she was saying goodbye to a friend that was moving away, she came home and then got light headed. She fell and hit her head causing a big cut. Her mother took her to the ER for the cut. She never came home. The reason she got light headed is because her kidney had burst and she was bleeding to death. By the time she got to the hospital and they figured out what was wrong it was too late.

2. In 2004 I started helping out up at the school by coordinating the monthly Scholastic Book Club orders. There was a mom that helped me out that year and then became a substitute at the school. She was substituting again in the fall of 2005. Right before school started she was having some bowel problems. It got bad enough that she went to the doctors. Her hubby's tour here was up in December and they moved to Kansas. From August-December she was going to the doctors and they couldn't find anything wrong with her. At the beginning of January her hubby rushed her to the ER because she was in so much pain and had blood in her stool. The doctor did an exam and said it looked like hemorrhoids. She scheduled an appointment to have them removed. During the procedure the doctor discovered that it was actually a tumor and that there were more than one in her colon. The biopsy came back malignant. After having a full scan from her neck down she found out that she had tumors growing in her lungs and liver. Most of you know that once cancer starts to spread it's even tougher to get rid of. The doctors gave her 6 months to a year. She fought hard for the last few months, but passed away today. She was 36 and left behind a husband and young children.

3.You all know my best bud Joni. Well, her hubby is always going to the doc for something. He suffers from chronic migraines, and occasionally he'll have some other thing wrong. Usually it's that Igottabitchywife Syndrome. Just kidding Joni! I had to crack a joke 'cause this is about David. Back to the serious stuff. When they were over here the doctors never really found anything super serious wrong with him. Well, he fell out of a run during PT and went to the clinic. The clinic sent him by ambulance to another hospital because they thought he was having a mini stroke. They're still doing tests and what not so please say your prayers for them.

So, as you can see, our medical system over here mostly sucks. I hate to say that because I have so many friends that work at the hospital. I also know that so many of the people that do work there try their best to accommodate patients. The problem is the system itself. Everything from not enough man power, to overworked staff, and outdated equipment. Something has to change. I just hope my family and I can stay healthy and out of harms way. I hate to leave on such a sad note but I'm tired. Off to bed so I can get up early and call Joni. Take care everyone!

Grinin' Goat

2006-09-02T20:47:00.000-04:00

Here's a cheeky goat that was at the zoo. I had to take a picture.

Novella @ the zoo

2006-09-02T20:43:00.000-04:00

Here's Novella at the Honolulu Zoo.

Isabella @ the zoo

2006-09-02T20:38:00.000-04:00

Here's Isabella at the Honolulu Zoo.

On our way to Kaneohe Bay

2006-09-02T20:27:00.000-04:00

Here's a view I couldn't pass up capturing forever in the digital world. The drive from Hickam Air Force Base to Kaneohe Bay takes you on H3 through an amazing mountain range. When you come out on the other side the sights that surround you are breath taking. This is one of them.

Beautiful street

2006-09-02T20:22:00.000-04:00

Here's a beautiful street I accidently found while the girls and I were trying to locate the Waikiki Aquarium. After Chris came back I made him drive down it so I could take a bunch of pictures. this is one ofmy fav's.

Pearl Harbor

2006-09-02T20:09:00.000-04:00

Here's the girls at Pearl Harbor with the Arizona Memorial and the USS Missouri in the background. They had a lot of fun here and learned a lot of history.

Kaneohe Bay

2006-09-02T20:05:00.000-04:00

Here's a beautiful view of Kaneohe Bay. Our friends just moved there in June so we visited them and they live within a 30 second walking distance of a nice beach. This is the view from that beach. I'm so jealous!!

Weekly free flights from Oahu to Okinawa

2006-09-02T19:34:00.000-04:00

This is how we sat for 10 hours on our flight from Oahu to Okinawa. It would have cost the four of us $2400-$3200 for commercial airline tickets AND we would have had a connection in Tokyo or Osaka. This cost us $3.75 per person which was a nominal fee for a sack lunch. Can't complain too much! Oh, you know on a commercial flight those yellow bags that fall from the ceiling if the plane loses cabin pressure? Well, you see those green bags hanging behind us. Those have a device that is like a foil and plastic wrap bubble that fits over your head and it gives you oxygen.

The real Waikiki

2006-09-02T19:12:00.000-04:00

This is what Waikiki really looks like. Not exactly the paradise I'm sure it used to be. This was taken from atop Diamonhead.

Finally some down time

2006-09-01T22:29:00.000-04:00

You know, going on vacation isn't really a vacation is it? Sometimes you're busier on vacation than you are at home. Between all the activities and stress of not knowing when we were coming home it was a very tiring vacation. I was just reviewing some of my other posts and realized I left out a bunch of stuff that went on in Hawaii. While Chris was in Okinawa the girls and I went to the Waikiki Aquarium. It was very inexpensive with our Military Discount. $10 total for the 3 of us and that included these little phone things that you carry around with you. Each exhibit has a different number and you punch that number into the phone then hold it to your ear and listen to all the cool facts and information. The girls loved it and learned so much. The aquarium was very small, I think we were in and out in 2 hours. There is no food served on the premises but there are vending machines and a small gift shop. It's a very fun, inexpensive way to spend the afternoon.

After Chris arrived we took the girls to the Honolulu Zoo which is very close to the aquarium. It was even cheaper than the aquarium. $9 for the 4 of us to get in. They had a place to eat but at $10 a meal we chose not to indulge so I can't tell you how the food was. The zoo was a good size. Not too big, not too small and they have a Keiki (child's) petting zoo with some goats and other cool things. In and out in 3.5 hours so it was another good way to spend an afternoon.

One of the other things we did, which is actually kinda major, was climb Diamond Head. Isabella is our lazy child who would prefer to ride in a stroller or be carried everywhere. A true princess at heart. So, to make our lives easier on this .8 of a mile hike up the steep inside wall of an extinct volcano we decided to put her in charge of the pace and let her be the "Leader". She's just like her mother. A born leader. There were times we had to tell her to slow down or stop so we could catch up and take a break. She did outstanding and didn't ask to be carried or complain once. This was one of our favorite activities while we were there. Another must-do for anyone traveling to Oahu.

One of the things I had to do while in Hawaii was go to a luau. Right? How can you go to Hawaii and not go to a luau. Well, let me just say that they are expensive and if you want to go to a really good one and get a good seat you either have to get there really early at the cheaper luau's or pay really big bucks to go to a nice luau. We went to Germaine's Luau and if it wasn't for the 3 free alcoholic drinks per person I would have been highly disappointed. The food wasn't less than desirable and because we got there late the seating wasn't good either. My friend that was there at the same time went to the Paradise Cove one and said mine sounded better than hers. I've done some research since then and if we ever go back I'd like to try the one at the Polynesian Cultural Center. It costs a lot more but sounds a whole lot better too.

I guess that's about it. Novella went back to school on Thursday and Isabella will start next Wednesday. I've already done something for Girl Scouts. (I'm such a sucker) And, some of my stuff for the book fair came in so now I'm trying to get ahead of the game on that. Chris changed the breaks on his truck yesterday and broke off two of the studs when he was tightening the lug nuts. He's down at the auto shop today changing out the studs and the girls and I are just veggin' at home. We'll be eating lunch in a bit and then we're going to our neighbors for a bbq. Oh, big news. I finally talked to Joni. She was on her way out the door so it was too quick but we have a phone date on Monday. I'm dying to talk to her. I miss her and David and the kids so much. When I was in Hawaii we went to Wal-mart and they have so many games that I've been wanting and can't find here in Okinawa. I wanted to buy some but then realized that I didn't have anyone to play them with. Chris and I play games but it was always funner with Joni and David. Okay, I'm gonna depress myself. Gotta go!

Is being stuck in Hawaii really that bad?

2006-08-29T04:26:00.000-04:00

Actually, it is. Chris got here on Sunday and we were hoping for a flight out on Friday. No such luck. There wasn't one on Saturday or Sunday either. We knew there was one on Monday so we showed up at 8:00 am for the roll call that was supposed to take place at 9:00 to find out that it changed and took place at 7:00. Can you believe the luck? No biggie, there was another roll call at 11:10 am with 10 seats. A family of 5 was ahead of us but that wasn't a problem since there's only 4 in our family. More than enough room. Until...right at the last minute some duty people show up and kick us all off the flight. So, here we are, 10:30 at night waiting for the next roll call that's 5 minutes after midnight. The flight leaves for Okinawa, Japan at 3:25 in the morning with 25 seats available. As long as things go our way we'll be home within the next 24 hours. Novella will miss at least 2 days of school by then. At least it's the beginning of the year and she already knows her teacher.

So, after Chris got here we hopped from hotel to hotel but most of it was on base at the TLF which was like a very small 2 bedroom apartment complete with washer and dryer and in room internet. You can't beat it at $42 a night in Oahu. In between the hotel hopping we were able to go to the water park here on the island, visit our friends, the Baldwins, who just moved here in June, see Pearl Harbor and the Memorial at the USS Arizona, go to Kualoa Ranch, and drive through the World Famous North Shore. Let me break them down for you...

The water park was a lot of fun but a bit expensive considering the girls were too small to go on most of the rides. Being the waterbabies they are they still managed to have a blast.

We were able to visit our friends twice, once before Chris got here and once after he got back. They live on the other side of the island and the drive through the mountains is one of the most spectacular I've ever seen in my life. I took a bunch of pics so as soon as I get home I'll post some but I don't think they'll truly do the real thing justice. Anyhow, our visits were so much fun and it was so good to see our friends again. They live within a one minute walk of the beach and we had a good time boogie boarding and playing in the soft sand. Have I mentioned how soft the sand is here? It's like a baby's butt compared to the sand in Okinawa.

Peal Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial. A must see for anyone who visits the island of Oahu. Even the girls enjoyed the movie and boat ride and museum. They learned a lot too. If you ever get to go I highly recommend forking out the $5 to rent the little head set thing that tells you all kinds of stuff. It's worth every dollar. Besides, the memorial itself is free of charge. We didn't have time to see the USS Missouri or the Bowfin but plan to come back someday to see them both.

Kualoa Ranch...A 4000 acre working cattle ranch and site of many movies and TV shows. You know Jurassic Park when the stampede happens and they hide behind a big log? Yeah, that was filmed at Kualoa Ranch. They have horse back riding tours, 6 wheeled ATV tours, 4 wheel ATV tours and big ol' school bus tours. Novella is a HUGE fan of the Jurassic Park series. In fact, she's having a hard time of deciding the theme of her room when we move back to the states. It's a toss up between dinosaurs and dragons. Well, before we even got here I was looking up all kinds of things to do on the internet and came across the ranch. After I told her about the Jurassic Park thing it was all she talked about and the only thing she wanted to do. I told her it was a little expensive but that if we had time we'd try to make it there. Thanks to the air Force and their lack of flights to Okinawa we had all the time in the world. So we took a drive up to North Shore just to check it out. I guess if you're into Surfing you might find it a bit more interesting. Anyhow, we drove through that and went around and down the east side of the island and found the ranch and took a tour. It was expensive for what you get, even with the military discount, but we still had a lot of fun and Novella almost died of excitement.

Near the ranch is the Polynesian Cultural Center which we didn't have time to check out but it's on our list of things to see next time we make it here. All in all we had a great time. The shopping was great and the dining was even better. I had forgotten how good a real baked potato with butter sour cream and fresh chives could be. The bad part of the whole vacation is that because we spent so much extra time here that was not planned we ended up dipping severely into our vacation savings. We had plans on going to Tokyo Disney in November but we may have to postpone it until the spring. It depends on how much work I can get at the school. If we can save up enough we'll still go but it'll be tight.

Well, now that I've rambled on and on. I can't wait to get home and sleep in my own bed. Take care!!

What day is it?

2006-08-19T16:30:00.000-04:00

Don't ask me because all my days are running into each other. Saturday had two flights leaving from Kadena to Hickam. I was next in line to be called on the first flight when it was declared full. Can you believe it? That flight left at 6 and went from Okinawa to Guam to Hawaii. (Aircraft are notorious for "breaking down" in Guam) The next flight was rumored to have 8 seats available then 4 seats available. Roll call was supposed to be at 6 pm but they postponed it until 8 so that they could have a better idea of how many seats would be available. There were families of 3 and 4 that couldn't get on the first flight because there were only two seats left so they were automatically ahead of me for the second flight. They all left and didn't even try to get on the next flight. I made it along with my friend who's hubby happened to be going to Hawaii too. We left at 11 and arrived shortly after the first plane that took off.

I checked on my reserved rental (compact Dodge Neon; the roads are so small here) to see if I could pick it up early. They said give 'em an hour. I came back and they upgraded me to a Chevy Impala. It's huge! I'm used to driving it now but man it's big for some of these little roads. So, the car thing worked out just fine.

We were hoping that Chris could take leave in route but they made him go home so the girls have been on our own for a couple of days. Chris is on his way back now so hopefully he'll be joining us tomorrow. We'll extend our stay here and enjoy a few family fun days in Oahu. I'm dying to get to Pearl Harbor and see the USS Arizona and the memorial. I'll post more details when I get home. Aloha!

Woe is me!

2006-08-11T03:42:00.000-04:00

Okay, so maybe I was pushing my luck by being fairly confident that we'd get on the flight to Hawaii that only had 10 seats available. I get to the airport to find out that there are still 10 seats but the darn plane is going to Misawa, Japan now instead of Hawaii. I could have got on it but it's not going where I want to be. To make things worse, the flight that was supposed to be direct to Hawaii tomorrow is now going to Guam, then Hawaii, then Travis and then somewhere else. I would have had to fight it out with the folks going only to Hawaii. Now I have to fight it out with those that want to go to the lower 48. Say your prayers, do your chants, rub your lucky rabbits foot, do whatever it takes to get me as much luck as possible. I'm gonna need it tomorrow. For real now, hopefully this is my last post until I get back. Love to all!!

Military Life

2006-08-10T17:12:00.000-04:00

I think that military spouses are a breed of their own. Those of us that are able to have a marriage that survives the insanity have some kind of special gene in our DNA. I assure you that it's definitely a mutated gene. There is no way that we were originally designed to put up with all of this. I've never flown Space-A before but I'm beginning to realize why so many people dread it and I haven't even gotten on the plane yet. There were supposed to be 2 flights to Hawaii today. A big something with an estimated 73 seats pending availability and then a medium medic-vac with only 10 seats pending. Well, the big something broke on mainland so now the girls and I are keeping our toes, fingers, arms, legs and eyes crossed for good luck that we make it. Being that we're category 4 and just signed up last week it's not looking pretty. The big something has been rescheduled for tomorrow. I DON'T WANNA TO LEAVE TOMORROW, I WANNA LEAVE TODAY! Okay, I just had to get that girly girl tantrum thrown in there. I hope you didn't suffer too much. Well, I gotta call the AMC terminal to find out what time roll call is. Hopefully I won't come home and cry my eyes out to this blog. Hopefully, we'll get on the plane and see Chris for dinner on Thursday night, even though it's already Friday here. Isn't that cool? The sucky part is coming back. We totally lose a day. Okay, I'm out. Wish us luck!!

Sad day in Okinawa

2006-08-04T21:36:00.000-04:00

In October 2003, when we moved into our little 3 bedroom abode on a Marine base, I never imagined that 3 years later I would be saying goodbye (not really good bye, just a see you later) to some of the best friends we've ever had. And yet, here I am, crying my eyes out and posting our last picture together in Okinawa. This has to be the second worst thing about the military. I have no idea what the next year holds for us here in Okinawa but it won't ever be the same. Sure it will still be fun and we'll have a blast, but it will be different. All of it will be different. Okuma, Just Nails, Cinnabon, Girl Scouts, PTO, Jushi, the Commissary, the exchanges, Starbucks, my backyard, Plaza Pool, the 100 Yen store, Bingo, Flea Markets, Spades, Sunday brunch, Christmas shopping. They'll always be missing a little something that's very special to me and it hurts so bad. Joni, thank you for laughing with me, thank you for crying with me, thank you for drinking with me, thank you for letting me be your friend, thank you for all the time you've spent with me. You are such a beautiful person inside and a hot mama on the outside and I'm so lucky to call you my friend. You and David and the girls have become so much more than family to us. The only thing that eases my sadness is knowing that we'll see eachother again. I can't imagine our life without you all in it (even Nana!). So, my dearest friends, until we meet again...We love you and a day won't go by that we don't think of you. Best of luck in Kansas (you're gonna need it)! Peace out J-dog! Love, A-rod

Hawaii (Really Oahu)

2006-08-03T19:11:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I never really thought about going to Hawaii. Sure it's always a dream for someone who lives in one of the other 49 states, and even a lot of Japanese visit it. But me, no, never even imagined having an opportunity to go. Well, here's how it came about. Chris was tentatively scheduled to go to New Mexico and Nevada for a period of 6 weeks. Missing the girls' birthdays and Isabella's first day of school. :( Plus, my best friends leave this week. So the girls and I decided we weren't gonna stay home and be bored. We're going to Okuma for a week. Then Chris' plans changed so I edited our Okuma reservations to fall on the weekend so he could join us up there. Well, guess what. His plans changed again. He's going to Hawaii for and undetermined amount of time. You'd think after 6 1/2 years of him being an avionics technician on an F-15 I'd have learned how this all works. He's now scheduled to leave on the day we were planning to go to Okuma. It pissed me off enough that I cancelled our reservations to Okuma and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the girls and I will make it onto a Space-A flight to Hickam Air Force Base.

Space-A flight to Hawaii - $26 per person
Rental car - $150 for a week
All the clothes we're gonna buy at Wally World (Wal Mart) - $???? :D
Authentic Hawaiian Luau - An arm and a leg
A week in Hawaii with my 3 favorite people - PRICELESS

I'm so stoked! I can't wait to get there. Best thing is I have a friend that just moved there in July I get to go see.

My only problem-TOO MUCH TO DO AND NOT ENOUGH TIME!! There's a water park, a sea life park, a national park, national monuments, Pearl Harbor, shopping, eating, hiking, swimming, the list goes on and on. I guess I'll just have to wait until we get there to decide. Hopefully Chris will have some time off to go see some of the stuff with us.

So, hopefully my next post will be all about my trip to Oahu!! Peace out!

Fishin'

2006-07-23T20:00:00.000-04:00

Holy cow we had so much fun fishing! The weather was beautiful and my favorite part was providing the fish with all the 'chum' they could eat. 4 out of the 6 that went were able to partake in this activity. Jeanette started us out on the way to the fishing spot, Joni was right behind her. Chris managed to reel in a medium sized Mahi before chummin' it up for me. I was good for a while. I wanted to wait until I caught one before I hurled but it didn't work out that way. The first three fish were caught quickly and then they stopped for a while. When it was my turn I pulled in a small tuna. I felt so bad, I don't think it was old enough to be away from it's mama yet. ;) After I caught mine I was done. I spent the rest of the time chummin' and sleeping. I guess I'm just a big land lubber! Unlike my three chummin' buddies, I'm ready to go fishin' out there on that great big blue Pacific again! All in all I had a blast and I'm very proud of my little tuna! Now I'm off to get the girls toe nails painted at the place that I get my monthly pedicures (can you beleive I've managed to budget those babies in?). I'll send pictures of our trip via Yahoo later today. Take care!!

Weekend

2006-07-20T21:32:00.000-04:00

Can you believe it's been a month since I posted? I know! I've been so busy doing nothing that I haven't had any time to post. Well, school ended, Girl Scouts ended, PTO finally ended, and at the end of June my night job ended. The next day I left for 5-6 days of family fun camping in horrible heat at Okuma. We had a blast and got great tans! Chris burned the first day and I burned the second. The kids were good though luckily. After 3 days they had to keep shirts on over their suits. I went to the store to buy our regular Coppertone sunblock but they were out so I found a Hawaiian Tropic kind with a higher SPF than our normal. IT SUCKED! The first thing I did when we got back was hunt down our regular kind. Anyhow, after we came back I've been spending some good quality time with the kids and making dinner 6 nights a week, lunch 6 days a week, and breakfast 7 mornings a week. That may be normal for some of you but with the hours Chris works and the hours I was spending away working or volunteering it was the exact opposite before. It seemed like all we ever did was eat out. I forgot how much I love cooking and feeding my family. It's very fulfilling for me. Hopefully I'll now lose all the weight I put on this last school year.

Tonight the girls are going for a sleep over at Joni's (my neighbor and best family friend). She leaves in 2 weeks so she let her 3 girls invite a couple of their friends over for one last party. It'll be Isabella's first sleepover and she's so excited. I am too. This means that Chris and I have a free babysitter tonight. We're gonna have dinner and then come back home to see how quiet the house can be. This is also a great time for us to sit down and re-write our budget. We want to live the rest of our time here as though we were getting paid what we'll be making stateside. We've been overseas for almost 6 years and have lived quite lavishly thanks to COLA(cost of living allowance). Well, we figure if we try to get used to living without it now then we'll be used to it by the time we get back stateside (14 months 3 weeks and counting). That way I won't feel pressured into finding a job immediately and if worse comes to worse and I can't find a job then we won't be stretched. I'll let you know how it all works for us and see if we can pull it off.

Hopefully I'll get to see my cousin-in-law this weekend. I promised my cousin (his wife) that we'd take good care of him while he's over here for the next 6 months. The only other thing I have planned for this weekend is my first deep sea fishing trip. I can't wait. The only thing I'm worried about is being so sick that I can't enjoy fishing. I already know that Chris, being the huge baby he is, will not be feeling well at all. I'll email out pictures when we get back. Until then, have a fun safe weekend! Peace!

www.mysoldier.com

2006-06-19T02:56:00.000-04:00

Hey all. Hope you're Father's day was grand. Ours was quiet. We were gonna go to some Dragon Boat Races but decided that veggin' out in our pj's would be better. There are more races coming up next month so we'll hit those one's instead. The rainy season is about over here. FINALLY! 3 weeks straight with two major mud slides is very unusual for our sub-tropical island. Now we're experiencing scattered showers in the late afternoons with poor downs at night. I know my cousin is supposed to be visiting soon next month sometime. The rain will be gone by then. We'll just have the most insane humidity/heat combination you can ever imagine. Maybe a few typhoons too!! He's been here before so I'm sure he knows what he's in for.

So, for the main reason I'm writing this. Saw on the TV today some good stuff. There's an organization called My Soldier. If you're a service member deploying then you should sign up, especially if you're lookin' for a pen pal. If you're an American who wants to help support our troops, this is one way that you can do it. Really, there's no reason you shouldn't sign up. If you really can't afford the $10 donation then contact me. Come on America, support our troops! Be a pen pal, send a care package, do something!! Okay, that's it. I gotta go email everyone in my address book about this. I can't wait to get my first contact. I'm sure I'll be blogging about it.

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. Novella lost her other front tooth so she looks even cuter than before! LOL! Take care everyone!

The Da Vinci Code (book)

2006-06-07T09:26:00.000-04:00

Well, where do I begin...First let me apologize for not writing about it when I promised I would. I got so busy and did not have a spare moment for the blog. Back to the book. Actually, let's get to my personal beliefs. This may come as a major shocker for some of you...I'm not a Christian, I'm not a Catholic, I'm not a Muslim, I'm not a Jew, I'm not a Buddhist, I'm not an Atheist, I'm not a Hindu, I'm not a Rastafarian, I'm not a Devil Worshipper and I'm not an Agnostic. I am a human being. I am someone. I am someone with morals. I am someone that has made mistakes and will continue to make mistakes. I am someone that has learned from and will continue to learn from those mistakes. I am someone that knows right from wrong. I am someone that will take responsibility for my actions. I am as non-judgmental as humanly possible. I am very open minded. I am pro-choice. I am pro-gay rights. I am a mother. I am a wife. I am a proud American citizen.

These are a lot of things that I am and that I am not; however, they are just a portion of me. I could go on and on but then I'd lose sight of the real reason I'm writing this. It's about the book. Being the 'touchy' subject matter that it is with some people, I thought it would be important to put some of my personal views out there so you could better see where I'm coming from. Back to the book.

After reading it, I do not understand why some have had issues with it. Perhaps it's their own insecurities with their own faith. I did hear one man say that publicity for the Church has been negative recently because of the child molesting issues and that this book/movie/and other's like it, are not helping the situation. He said that people will leave the Church or choose not to join the Church or lose faith because of these books and movies. Here's what I have to say to that. "You're feeding into it! If people like you hadn't made such a big deal out of it then it wouldn't have become such a big deal." I guarantee you that if there hadn't been such drama about the book/movie and people boycotting movie theaters if it was played there then I would not have been very interested in it. Because of all the controversy, I said hey, I gotta read that book before the movie comes out and see what all the gossip is about. So, I went and bought the book. Now I can't wait to see the movie. If half of these people would have just read the darn book they would have gotten over it unless they were the insecure type. I have no desire to prove or argue my theory on religion or any gods or creators. It's my theory and I believe it and if no one else does I'm okay with that. I think that faith is a very personal relationship that everyone has within themselves and no movie or book will have any bearing on it unless they're not 100% true to heart. Bottom line! Honestly, if reading the Bible or the Book of Mormon isn't going to change my feelings then why would The Da Vinci Code change someone else's?

Remember the movie National Treasure? Nicholas Cage, the Free Masons and a bunch of symbology. The Da Vinci Code is kind of the same thing with Tom Hanks, the Free Masons, a bunch of symbology, the Holy Grail, Jesus, Mary Magdalene and an albino. They're running from the 'bad guy' but they don't really know who the bad guy is or where it is that they're running to. They don't even know what role they themselves should be playing. I guess I'm glad that people fed into it because now I've read another great fiction novel and can't wait to see the movie.

So, if you now have more questions than answers then just let me know. I don't want to give away too many details about the book and ruin it for anybody. Now, it's 11:30 pm and time for bed. 'Night!

I'm still here

2006-06-07T08:41:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I feel like I'm just a character in a video game that some evil teenager is controlling. I get so wrapped up in my obligations that I totally forget I'm living a life. Luckily, by the end of this month, the only obligations I will have will be the three bestest people in the whole wide world. Chris, Novella and Isabella. No more PTO, no more Girl Scouts, No more work at night. I can't wait. I'll be able to get back to planning and cooking wonderful meals (instead of the same menu repeated weekly), drawing chalk people on the sidewalk, swimming at the pool, painting fingernails and toenails in the evening and best of all reading stories to my girls at bed time, every night, followed by cuddling my husband while we are finally able to get in bed at the same time. I can't wait!!!

Speaking of family...Chris is doing well considering. He's been working 12-14 hour shifts for 2 weeks straight. They're in the middle of this stupid exercise. Okay, well I guess it's not stupid. How else will they all know what to do in real situations if they don't play them out ahead of time. The problem is that family life completely blows during these things and when they occur once a month it's hard to feel 'normal'. If any of you reading this are civilians then my 'normal' is not the same 'normal' you're familiar with but I think you can get the jists of what I'm talking about. Jen knows what I mean. :)

Novella is almost done with first grade...Okay, now that you've regained consciousness from that shocking information prepare yourself for this...Novella came home two weeks ago and informed me that she has a crush on a boy at school. AAAGGGHHH!!! She likes the way he dresses. This is coming from a child who wears a blue striped long sleeved shirt, a green plaid skort and funky rainbow colored socks pulled up to her knees. Back to the crush. I didn't even know she knew what having a crush meant. I guess between riding the bus with older kids and being in a 1-3 grade class she's bound to figure some stuff out. The good in this is that I know she trusts me and feels comfortable telling me about it. Not that I doubted she would, but every time she confides in me it's another step in the right direction of keeping open the lines of communication between a parent and child. This is very important in the 21st century. Chris took the news very well. Much better than I expected. He didn't tease her or get upset or anything. He just told her she can't like him a lot, only a little. No kissing, hugging or holding hands. She said okay but then later told me that she liked him more than a little. And to think, this is just the beginning.

Isabella is mostly concerned with her best friend Sarah (who leaves for Kansas in August) and starting kindergarten. She's doing great with her writing and we've started simple math. 3 fingers on one hand plus 2 fingers on the other hand equal 5. It's awesome. I bought an Usborne book for Novella a long time ago that teaches kids how to tie bows, well, Isabella has taken a fancy to it and has decided to start practicing. She's doing really well at it too. She has finally given me permission to get rid of the two cats that keep scratching her as long as I replace them with a cute small dog.

Okay, well I should probably get on with my writing about The DaVinci Code.

The DaVinci Code

2006-05-17T05:20:00.000-04:00

Oh my gosh. Great book. As long as you're open minded and can enjoy it for what it is (a fiction book), then you should read it! I can't wait to see the movie. I've heard it follows the book very closely. You'll never believe who it is. I have to go to work now otherwise I'd write more. I'll be busy non-stop until Sunday so I won't be able to get more into it until then. I promise I'll come back and write my own novel about it. Including some very personal feelings/opinions that I don't share very often. They might surprise you more than the ending of the book! Take care!!

Monte Carlo Night

2006-05-07T19:56:00.000-04:00

Saturday was one of the best nights I've had in a long time. Chris and I, along with two other couples that are really good friends of ours, went to the NCO club on Saturday for a Monte Carlo Night. We paid $20 per person and got $3000 in funny money. There were roulette tables, craps tables, Texas hold'em tables, a dealers choice table and some other table with a card game that has an interesting name that sounds something like ping pong but more Chinese. Anyhow, Chris blew his money in about 20 minutes, while I found myself, with a bunch of lady friends, at the dealers choice table. The dealer used to work with my neighbor, Joni's, husband so we had connections ;). He let it be a players choice table and we all took turns picking what game we wanted to play, everything from Texas hold'em to baseball to some games that we just made up on the spot. So much FUN! Monte Carlo ended at 11:00 but I was not ready for home, so Chris and I, and the two couples we went with, moved to the bar to finish the night off. One of the girls, Jeannette, NEVER drinks. She ended up having 5 or 6 strawberry daiquiris and jello shots. I had some beers and jello shots. Joni out did us both. 9 or 10 margaritas and I'm not sure how many jello shots. The three of us danced our butt's off until 3 am. It was great! To top it all off, Chris waited on me hand and foot on Sunday. I got breakfast, lunch and dinner in bed. I don't think I went downstairs once. I haven't been able to spend a whole day in bed since before Novella was born. The best part about that is that I wasn't hungover so I could actually enjoy my day in bed.

I have another night out planned for next month. A bunch of my girlfriends, including Joni and Jeanette, will be going out to some bars off base. We have a lot of friends leaving this summer so it'll be our last hoorah. I can't wait. I wonder if they have jello shots at the local bars. One of the bars we're going to is called The Nashville. They have a mechanical bull. Hopefully someone will take a camera and I can get some pics. They might have jello shots. Ooh, I can't wait.

Not much going on this week except for Family Bingo night, oh, and our mother/daughter tea party on Friday. ha ha ha! After those last two paragraphs it's hard to believe I'm a PTO board member and a Girl Scout leader. Well, it's all innocent fun, right? We were all very responsible too. We got a cab home. Now Joni's gonna take me in a bit to get my car.

I guess that's it for now. Take care all of you!!

So...

2006-05-01T04:19:00.000-04:00

Friday was a blast. I'll be posting pictures on yahoo to show all of you. The kids really enjoyed themselves. Saturday we went to the zoo/children's museum. The zoo was alright, not like LA or San Francisco but still fun. The museum was awesome, could have stayed there all day. After we got home I started looking at the map and realized that there's a huge pond to go fishing in. Bad news...I remembered my camera, but forgot the memory card so, no pics from the zoo! :(

Something else I did last week...registered Isabella for kindergarten. That's a very big :( !!!

On a lighter note, I turned in my very long, million page application for substitute teaching at the girls' school. Wish me luck. I'll make more money than I do teaching English plus the hours are more family friendly. The crazy thing is that they are in such desperate need for subs over here at the Dodds schools that no degree is required, just a super in depth, very long, pain in the butt to fill out, background security check. Which, for me, is no problem to pass.

Okay, I'm off to my family un-friendly job. Take care!!

Nothing Major

2006-04-25T19:24:00.000-04:00

Well, nothing major to report on this side of the Pacific. From the pictures I've seen, my cousins husband was given a very beautiful service the Saturday before Easter. She's back at home trying to keep the kids in their usual routine.

Spring Break was pretty good. There were strong winds and lot's of clouds with some rain too. Our tent held up well but the rain cover ended up leaking so we put the tent up and moved to a cabin for the remainder of our trip. The girls and I still had fun. We should be headed back up there for the 4th of July.

July will be crazy. We'll be having the girls' birthday party that month because Chris will be gone from the end of July through the beginning of September. The good thing is that it will force me to be strong on Isabella's first day of kindergarten. Speaking of school, Novella just got her 3rd quarter report card. All p's and cd's. p's are comparable to b's and cd's are comparable to a's. She improved in several area's from p's last quarter to cd's this quarter. She's doing very well and enjoying school a lot. She even has a best friend now.

We have our annual Spring Fling at school on Friday evening. It's a time for the kids to ride roller skates, roller blades or scooters at the school. There's a DJ, popcorn, snowcones and jumpy castles. The girls are both looking forward to it.

Saturday we're on our way to the Okinawa Zoo and Science Museum. It should be a fun Girl Scout field trip.

I guess that's it for now. I'll post/email pictures after the weekend!! Take care!

What do I say?

2006-04-03T09:47:00.000-04:00

What do I say to my cousin? I want to call her but what do I say. I don't know if being a military wife myself has made this have a more painful effect on me but it has definitely hurt me to the bottom of my soul. I've been racking my brain trying to come up with something that won't make her pain worse. There are no words that can make it less, but what can I say that won't make it worse? I try to imagine myself, in her position. I can't. I don't think I would be able to breath, walk, think, let alone talk on the phone. If I was there, with her, at least I could hold her, hug her, cry with her, support her. My heart is broken, hers must be shattered. What do I say to Sis? I don't know. What do you say to someone who has lost her best friend, her lover, her life partner, her beautiful 8 month old baby girls daddy, her everything? There is nothing you can say. Nothing. I just want to cry.