Just Another Day in Paradise...

Just another day with you and me in paradise..para..pardise!!

This past week has been so nice with Jake being home so much. However, we had to take jake back to his home and it was so sad. The owners brought us back some organic Main mape syrup and blueberry jam that was made from the place they last lived in Main and omyword, this stuff is so good! They are also treating us to a steak dinner sometime soon and has invited me to be apart of her book club. I'm kinda nervous/shy/apprehensive/excited about this club. We are going to start a book about how to be a servant wife. I asked her if there were any other women my age in the group and she said no. Many of the woman have been married over 15 or 20 years so I think I'm going to take this as an opportunity to just listen and learn.
Yesterday Jake was home and around 4 we decided to go out to dinner and a movie. We were pretty excited to go see Winnie the Pooh but after dinner we decided to not see the movie because we had already seen a movie this month for our entertainment. So we went to Borders instead. I know. Well, we JUST became Prime Rewards Members when Borders decided to shut down. They are closing at the end of this month and everything had to go because the company is bankrupt. We went looking for an ASVAB study guiede and ended up with an armload of goodies.


Yay for sales. Boo for closing down the store and standing in HUGE lines.

Good for us for NOT sticking to our budget :(. BUT, how could we pass up 40% off of blue ray? or 30% off christian fiction? Probley really easily if we had just left but we didn't. We did save about $62. It also didn't help our budget when I saw that Jcrew was having a 40% off sale and FREE shipping to Hawaii...Oh man...Aubree has gotten me into Pinterest and it does not help my self control what-so-ever when it comes to shopping. On a side note, everyone needs to check out the Fablehaven Series!! It is one of my top favorite!


AMAZING SERIES!



just another day in paradise...



Got this for an outstanding $42 cheaper!



When we got home last night we had planned to wake up bright and early and go watch the sunset on Kailua. Well, that didn't work out as planned but we did get up around 6:30 and headed on out there. It was so peaceful and relaxing.

Afterwards we headed on over to Elvin's bakery and had some pastries and coffee. It was such a relaxing morning and it felt so good getting to spend time with Jake. We came home and put in BBC's Planet Earth and just ooed and awed over the quality of the scenery and amazingness of blue ray.
I am trying something along with my weight watchers just to see how it works. Mrs. Pantling (the owner of jake and lady over the bookclub) told me about this plan where you combine good fats with each meal to flush out the bad fats that your body stores because it's not getting the right kind of fats it needs. I looked up the article and compared it with my nutrition's book and it looked really accurate (I'm no nutritionist or anything but I do know a bit). She said she has been on it and really feels great and has lost about 8 pounds or so. It isn't a fad diet or a quick loss anything, its just something that your body needs. What basically needs is about 1-2 Tbls of monosaturated fat with each meal. Examples may include 2 T of raw nuts (not salted), 1/4 c of dark chocolate, 1/4 c olives or olive oil, or 1/4 of an avocado. She said to try it for at least 2 weeks and see if I can tell a difference. So in about 2 weeks I will let ya'll know how it is going. The only thing is is that pecans are so bad for weight watchers. 1 T is like 4 points!! So I'm trying sliced almonds instead and some walnuts. I have been on this diet for 5 weeks now and have yet to weigh myself! haha

Jake and I are babysitting tonight. I've never watched a child with Jake and am pretty interested in how he is going to act. I'm a little nervous because I've only met the parents once and am suprised that they trust us with their little girl but the guy is good friends with Jake from work and it's been forever since he has gotten to take his wife out on a date.

If anyone is interested in that meal 'diet' here is the link:
http://www.prevention.com/flatbellydiet/articles/5flatbellyfoods.shtml

Weight Watcher Choc. Chip Cookies-1pt

Today was a chocolate chip cookie day. I of course, cannot have chocolate chip cookies so I went online to search for a low point cookie recipe and LOOK WHAT I FOUND! 2 cookies are only 1 point!

Ingredients:
- 2 tbsp light butter, softened
- 2 tsp canola oil
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar, dark-variety
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp table salt
- 1 large egg white
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 3 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips, about 1/2 cup
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375ºF.
In a medium bowl, cream together butter, oil and sugar. Add vanilla, salt and egg white; mix thoroughly to combine.
In a small bowl, mix together flour and baking soda; stir into batter. Add chocolate chips to batter; stir to distribute evenly throughout.
Drop rounded half-teaspoons of dough onto one or two large nonstick baking sheets, leaving a small amount of space between each cookie. Bake cookies until golden around edges, about 4 to 6 minutes; cool on a wire rack. Makes 24 servings.

It all Ended... HP2

This weekend was packed full of fun! Friday, Jake was told yet again he had duty. Your only supposed to have duty once a month and this would have been his 5th time in TWO weeks. I was kinda nervous because we had purchased the Saturday morning showing for Harry Potter and really hoped he would be able to stay awake during it. When we got there we had 5 min before it was supposed to show and I was like, we better get awesome seats. We went in and got good seats and waited impatiently for the movie to begin. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time and literaly shaking with anticipation for each scene. But before I knew it, the movie was over. Wow, 10 years of a part of my life over. I know that sounds so 'lame' to many of you but I really don't care. Harry Potter has always been so special to my family's life and it is so sad that it has ended. Also, I don't understand how people think that HP is of the Devil? It is FICTION. You know, that area in the book store labeled fiction, not Non-Fiction or Religion or Demon-Worship but fiction. Off my soap-box.
Oh well, now I can look forward to The Hobbit!
Which is also FICTION.



After the movies, we went back home to eat our picnic. We were going to go hang around Waikiki but we knew if we did, we would end up spending money that was not included in our budget so we went on home. We watched Big Jake and after Jake took a nice nap, we decided it was a beautiful afternoon for a bike ride! We went along the coast in Lanikai and headed out toward Waiminalo. It was really nice outside.

Afterwards, we headed over to this little bar&grill and had a lame salad :( I AM COMMITTED! Jake, of course had a bbq bacon cheeseburger.

We came back home and I put on my crock pot for Sunday's meal. I was making beef stew but because normal AWESOME momma stew is out of the question I made this Jewish form of beef stew made with sweet potatoes, brisket, prunes, carrots, and new potatoes. It was so rich! I don't know if I can handle much of it but Jake LOVED it. I'll try to post the recipe soon.

Today, I cut down a lot of my plants outside because they were beginning to look ridiculous. The plants here are so strange. We went on another bike ride for 3 hours! Went to some part of the island that cost way too much money and walked around these little shops and looked at all the really nice boats. I didn't want to be gone long because we only get to have jake for 3 more days :(. I am seriously not looking forward to this week when he has to leave. I wish we could keep him. I would pay all the money in my savings for this dog. I asked Jake if we could buy a dog but he was being on the 'practical side' today and said that we would have to start including all this dog's supplies into our budget and include dog traveling expenses into our future spending. ALSO, bred dogs cost around $1200 and more here! So...we are going to have to wait. After the ride, Jake went outside and played fetch with jake.

Man, I'm really going to miss this puppy!

We are know sitting here watching Donavon's Reef and enjoying the evening!

Life Decisions

I haven't really blogged that much about being a military wife or even being in the military with Jake. It seems strange but I actually do not even feel like we are in the military. I wake up each morning on a military base and can hear the men run while calling cadence; I hear taps being played each night right behind our house in remembrance of the fallen hereos; I have said goodbye countless of times; I have gone through a deployment; I never see my family and on top of all of that, this has been going on for about 3 years! For some reason, I just don't really feel all patriotic and 'militarized.' I am proud of my husband and really think everyone should realize the sacrifices being made DAILY but I don't really know what it means to have the military feelings? This past year, all we could talk about was putting in for early out. This means instead of getting out next August 10th, Jake would get out in April. We would move home and start a new life. We would see our families, get jobs, get a dog, have babies, and live happily ever after in Greenwood where our kids will have their names engraved in the highschool sidewalk; where we rejoin FBC and be surrounded by amazing people, SEE MY SARAH WHENEVER I WANT, and all the other happy moments that accompany Greenwood.
But...
What if we rejoin? WHAT! Earlier this week, Jake and I talked about him attending OU and going for his Bachelor of Science degree and majoring in Air Traffic Control. His GI Bill and Post 9/11 would pay for everything, and after 4 years, he would have a gaurenteed job from the FAA academy. This sounds doable and great. So when Jake goes and talks to his section's career planner about this plan yesterday, the man asks him if he was interested in Air Traffic Control, why not re-inlist and move his MOS to ATC within the Marine Corps? Jake answers, "Because how do I know they won't just put me back into Artillery after I re-inlist?" GOOD QUESTION! The man says he isn't a recruiter or anything but Jake should look into it. He said that ATC his loosing more men than they are gaining and is hurting for men to have that MOS. So, the career planner says that he has a good ASVAB score and needs to raise it by just 10 more points to be able to put in a package for that MOS. Also, the reinlistment bonus is somewhere around $43,000 for ATC! BUT...another 4 years of moving around, no family, no plan, no home?
I am just writing out my feelings and really don't know what this blog post sounds like up to this point. The benefits of the military are AMAZING! Not to mention, I wouldn't have to work and be spoiled rotten for another 4 years and to be honest with you, if I knew he would be able to get into that MOS I would be fully supportive. However, they pull this type of crap where you apply for one thing, and then place you where THEY need you, not where you necessarily signed up for. I mean, that is what happened to Jake 3 years ago. That scares me. Today Jake told me that if he didn't get that MOS he would have 10-20 days to figure out whether or not he would want to stay in or not. That made me feel better.
I know we have another year until we have to have something for sure decided but hearing the news and where are government and society is today is just scary.
Another aspect (completley off the wall) is what if this is our mission field? whew...I am reading about Silas, Paul, and Timothy and them traveling wherever the Lord led them without hesitation and with hardly any materialistic means, just faith. I hope to give my entire self to the Lord and pray for His guidance. This is an emotional rollercoaster that is just starting.
My husband is a great man. He is a great provider and wonderful everything. I want to write that I am this great supportive wife and will follow him to the end of the earth. BUT, my heart is hardening toward the military with every negative 'thing' that enters into our lives and another term might just break me.
But what if that is what God wants?
I wouldn't have the 'normal' securities of what I wrote about earlier but would have to know a new life.

Weight Watchers Brownies

I have been on this diet for 4 weeks now and was deprived the night before last of some delicious peanut butter cookies that I made for Jake. Now, I did have 1 but it was a dinky little cookie and cost me 3 points. SO, I went to my pantry to grab some of the pure pumpkin my momma had sent me the week before and began to make some weight watcher brownies. They are AMAZING....maybe I was just really happy to have a brownie that was only 2 or 3 points and I was really not trying to think about the Pioneer Woman brownies I had made the week before but they were still VERY good. They were also VERY easy!



Ingredients:
1 reg size can of Pure Pumpkin
1 box of Devil's Food Cake Mix

NO OIL, NO EGGS, and NO WATER!




Preheat Oven to 400 Degrees
Add the Two Ingredients to a Medium Size Bowl




Mix well
Spray a 12 tin muffin pan with Pam or use liners and spray
Bake for about 20 min.




While I waited I hugged, loved, and snuggled with this wonderful creature. I also boo-hooed knowing he was about to go home; he's sad too I just know it.




Do the toothpick test and if it comes out dry after 20 min your good! I made mine in a 6 container tin so they were about an extra point but if you make them in the 12 container tin they are 2 points each :)



Oh Amos...

First off I want to tell everyone that I am SOOO excited about Harry Potter this Saturday! They are strangly only showing HP in only 3 theaters on the entire island so we are having to drive to the other side of the island to watch it opening weekend. I would love to say that I would be able to see the 12 o'clock showing but lets face it, Jake and I weren't even able to stay up for the 8:30 PM fireworks show last weekend in Waikiki, so we are going Saturday morning.

On a completely different note..

I was able to share a bit of my faith to someone Monday evening and it was a bit interesting. The girl down the street who I made brownies for came over Monday and wanted to take me out for some coffee. I thought that was so nice but it was around 5 and I hadn't even began to work on some dinner for Jake and I was in my 'comfy' clothes and she of course looked great. SO, I asked if we could go around 6:30 that way I could get everything going along. Well, she ended up staying for about an 45 min and we had a casual chat and then we were going to go take some of dinner to our husbands and leave. After we got some coffee, we headed back to my house and just sat at the dining room table and talked. The first conversation we had last Friday, she ended up asking her husband if we were MORMONS! Ha, I guess that was the closest thing she could come up with to how I was acting and to be honest, I didn't really intentionally talk about my faith, so I was suprised it even got her attention. We were just sitting there and I was telling her about myself when she asks what religion I am. I was kinda suprised and was like, I am a Christian. I wanted to tell her about my faith walk but I didn't want to make her uncomfortable. She asked me why I didn't really hang out with a lot of other people here and I was completley honest with her. I said I wasn't accustomed to men blaring out the F word in front of me, I didn't enjoy listening to the pervasion coming out of their mouth, and I wasn't accustomed to sitting with people who had the full intention of getting drunk. I told her I didn't want to surrond myself in that lifestyle. I don't want to follow the patterns of this world. She kind of just stared at me and said," Wow, you know...that's how it's supposed to be but, honestly...that isn't how life is." After that, we talked for another couple of hours and then walked the dogs and she went home.
And then I learn about Amos.
Amos was a prophet. He wasn't an educated scholar or priest but was a humble shepherd. And God spoke to him. God used him. He went to Bethel and proclaimed all the prophesies that were to come about the Isrealites surronding enemies and the people rejoiced about their destruction. However, when the time came for Amos to tell them that God was not pleased with Judah or His other chosen nations, they persecuted Amos. But Amos had to tell them His message. If they would just repent and let the scales fall from their eyes and soften their hardened hearts then maybe God would forgive again. But they didn't. They were so accustomed to their sinful lives and the profound abundance of wealth, that they couldn't believe that God was angry with them.  They went back to praising golden calfs and other false gods, stealing from the poor and blasepheming against the One true God. Amos told them the good news each day. He didn't withhold the pearls before the pigs. He wanted everyone to hear the message. Amos was a good and faithful servant. After 160 years after Amos was killed, his phrophesies rang true.
Why didn't I shout out God's praises before my new friend? First off, it was the only person since my friend Julia to come over to see me and I wanted to spend time with another woman. I want to make friends. I don't want to compromise my values, my beliefs, my God. I want to glorify Him. I am praying that she will be able to see the good works in my and be able to Praise our Father in Heaven; ask herself "why is she such a 'stranger' or 'alien' in this world?" I was confronted by a fellow christian sister about my boundries on friendship and that I shouldn't write people off because of their sin. That opened my eyes so much. I am reminded of Jonathon and David's friendship. David proclaimed that no woman could love him more than his friend Jonathon. Why? Because they held on to what they believed and was strengthened by one another. As iron sharpens iron, so one man should sharpen another. I honestly want to make relationships here and I really have to search and see where I am holding back.
Sorry this post is so random!
Jake and I are really praying about some life decisions that are going to come up within the next year. Last night was just a bit scary thinking about everything that could go 'wrong' if we get out of the military. Isn't it funny to think about how much I have COMPLAINED over the past 4 years and then when the prospect of getting out comes around, it frightens me to death?! We have to hope in Christ and truly seek His will if we want to honor Him through our decisions.
I love my mother-in-law's new life moto 'Life is what it is'

This Past Weekend...

This past weekend just flew by..oh..there it went! Haha seriously tho, I am not looking forward to tomorrow. I don't like Mondays very much. This Friday, Jake and I had a couple and their little girl over for dinner. I was so exhausted from the day that I really wasn't looking forward to it. I had made some Pioneer Woman brownies the night before for some of the guys in the barracks and also for a new couple that moved in just down the road. I have been wanting to meet her but have been entirally way too shy so I thought I would have an excuse if I brought goodies with me! We had a nice little visit but I had to hurry to the grocery store for some fresh groceries and then head back in time to prepare the cuban black beans and cilantro lime rice. When 6:15 came around, this beautiful couple came in with the most precious little girl named Lily. We had such a great visit and I am really hoping we can hang out again really soon.
Saturday we did absolutley nothing. We sat on this couch all day long and watched the Parent Trap, Hot Rod, and I watched Jake play his new video game Operation Flash Point. I just want everyone to know that Jake and I watch Hot Rod at least twice a week. It is SO FUNNY. Last night after our walk with Jake, we went for a night ride around the base and it was so beautiful. I love riding the motorcycle. Jake has been on this Land Rover craze for about a week now and that is all he looks at. I have to admit, he has found some really great deals and we have found some BEAUTIFUL cars around here; HOWEVER, if we live like no one else NOW, we can live like no one else LATER. That is a Dave Ramsey saying but its hard when we see everyone around here with super nice cars. We have decided to make car payments into our savings for the next year pretending that it is a real car payment, that way, we will have a good down-payment to put on a car when we get back home this time next year. We have a perfectly good PAID off exterra and we just paid off our motorcycle this week! We also got a great blessing this past Thursday:
                  Back in November of last year, Jake had purchased his coming home ticket from Okinawa for his Christmas leave which was about $1,800. So, we had to cancel the ticket because he was sent on orders to go back to Hawaii before Christmas for a PTA training. Anywase, Jake calls the airline and sends in his military orders and we were SUPPOSED to get a full refund BUT they tell him he has to pay the $150 penalty and will put his money in credit rather than in a reimbursement. We were definatly bummed about that for the past..oh...8 months but we thought we could use that credit towards our Christmas ticket. Then the airlines sends Jake an email claiming on top of the ticket price, we will have to pay an additional $300 PER ticket that is NOT included in our credit. CROOKED PEOPLE OUT THERE. So anywase we were wanting to buy our tickets early so it would not be super expensive and when looking Monday night at the prices they were about $2400 not including the $600 penalty we would have to pay. So here comes the blessing...one night this week,, Jake gets an email in our bank account that we got a payment for $1756 from the airlines! 8 months later we were getting reimbursed out of NO WHERE!? Completley a GOD INTERVENTION. What a great God we serve! So we bought our tickets for Christmas last night and are now coming in for Christmas! I hope all of Jakes relatives will be able to be there for Christmas, it has been so long since we have seen his beautiful family and little cousins.
Today we went to church and enjoyed a FANTASTIC guest speaker and was completley refreshed. Came home and ate a delicious Weight Watchers crock pot dinner and then went to Waiminalo for another polo match. This time we brought Jake along and he loved it. It was such a great game.
We are now sitting here watching The 10th Kingdom, eating some baked pears and vanilla creme and enjoying each others company! Hope everyone had a great weekend!



We are sure enjoying this game! Beautiful weather!



I'm really going to miss this puppy :(

Lemon Cranberry Scones

I had never had a scone before I had moved here. The first one I had was at a woman's conference here at the country club and ever since then I have LOVED them! I have made some whole wheat strawberry ones before and usually eat the blueberry ones at the bakery but when I ran across the Lemon Cranberry recipe on Skinnytastes.com, I had to try it!
1 slice is 4 points for weight watchers.

*Make sure to have unsalted butter placed in the freezer untill chilled before baking

*Move top shelf to top third rack in oven

*Preheat oven to 375 degrees



Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice, divided
• 1/2 cup low fat buttermilk
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp lemon zest
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 2 cups Ultra grain flour (or 1 cup white, 1 cup whole wheat)
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp chilled butter (must be cold) cut into small pieces
• 3/4 cup dried sweet cranberries or cherries

 

Place parchment onto a baking sheet

 

To make your glaze, combine 2 T of sugar with 1 T of lemon juice

 

Combine buttermilk, remaining lemon juice, sugar, lemon zest, vanilla, and egg in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk

  

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, in a large bowl and stir until well mixed

  

Cut in chilled butter with a pastry blender, or you could use 2 knives, until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
Which, mine never really looked like but still tasted just fine.



Fold in your dried cranberries

 

Add your buttermilk mixture to your flour mixture

 

Stir until moist, it will be sticky

 

Place your dough onto a floured surface, and with floured hands, gently knead about 4 times

  

place dough onto your parchment sheet and form into an 8-inch circle, about 3/4 in thick.



Cut into about 8 to 10 sliced but be sure to NOT cut all the way through

 

Brush lemon glaze over the dough

 

Bake for about 18-25 minutes until golden brown. Do the toothpick test and when it comes out dry, your good :)

 

Yes, it tastes just as good as it looks!

 

Serve warm (right out of the oven) and with your favorite coffee.  ENJOY!



Hello All!

Today has been Cleaning Control Center out this house....if that makes any sense? Jake left around 5 something this morning and I could not seem to manage to get out of bed. We have been letting Jake sleep with us each night ( I know I know, his owners are NOT going to be happy ) but I love sleeping between him and my Jake under our quilt while watching As Time Goes By...it is just perfect...until around 3 AM when jake is pushing me and my husband towards the other side of the bed and we are the ones giving up the blanket and all the room; I was not wanting to wake up this morning. When I finally did it was around 6:45 and Jake was ready for his breakfast. I had a kitchen full of dirty dishes and a household mess full of dog hair, dog hair, scratch marks, and dust. After Jake left for work, I decided to just give in and use the dishwasher.
Side Story: I hate opening the mail box and looking at our 'green' electrical base bill. This electrical bill started in January in an effort to make households use less energy. I was like, that won't be hard because its just Jake and I around here, we don't have television, I don't use any light during the day, and I unplug our appliances after each use.. how hard could this be? Well, the first month was AWFUL! We were charged $50! I was so mad. The next month we worked on only doing laundry once a week, and using the dishwasher twice a week, $18 later I was still upset. How on earth were these people planning on me to be under the 'normal' electricity range? So the next month, we did laundry once a week, NEVER used the dishwasher, unplugged EVERYTHING, never used lighting, and basically lived in a hermit house. The bill was only $3 under normal. Ok, something is wrong with this picture? Jake was gone for 2 1/2 weeks during the month of June, I was at home, and the bill still barely put us under normal range? Something is crooked around here.
ANYWASE, I decided to use the dishwasher this morning and use my new dish detergent which smelt so heavenly. I cleaned the counters, swept, vacuumed (four times to pick up the endless amount of dog hair) and prepared my wonderful, magic, amazine Shark Steam mop for action. AND...it doesn't work...AGAIN. Steam was coming out of every crevice of this machine instead of the bottom padded part. I am so FURIOUS with this lady that broke my mop and gave it back to me broken. Hopefully, Jake can take another look at it for me tonight when he gets home and fix it again...
In the mean time, I am MELTING because I have decided that maybe I use the air conditioning too much and that is why we are being charged extra. The windows are open and jake is laying here panting saying 'please turn the air back on!'
I just finished my quite time today and was completely blessed from it. I have been studying about Jonathon, Saul, David, and Samuel while reading Francine Rivers 'The Prince' and have just loved learning about this part of our history. Reading in 1 Samuel, we learn that the people of Israel want a king like the nations around them. The Prophet Samuel is wanting the people to understand that the nation already has a king and could be triumphent if the Israelites follow the Lord instead of their own household idols. After several times of going to the Lord, God tells Samuel to give them what they want. From the tribe of Benjamin, Saul is chosen to lead. On the day of his public announcement, we find Saul hiding in the baggage because he is unprepared to take on the responsibility God has called him to do. HE WAS HIDING IN THE BAGGAGE PEOPLE! However, the Israelites were pleased because no one could compare to Saul, he was even a head taller than everyone around him. God annointed a man that was pleasing to 'men's' wants according to appearance from the least of the tribes out of the 12. During the first few years, God was with Saul. Saul could have looked at his weaknesses and let God use him in great ways; however, he let pride, self-centerness, and doubt lead him instead. He reigned for 42 years and after the first few years, God left him and allowed an evil spirit to live in Saul.
Then God annoints David as king over Israel. He was the youngest out of 7 sons of Jesse and was a musician, poet, and shepherd. He was handsome and pleasing in appearance but he was young when annointed. He was a man after God's heart. I love how his music calmed Saul during times when the evil spirit was upon him by just playing his heart and singing songs of Praise. I love how he went up against a 9 foot giant, after 40 days of no one stepping up  for the battle, and with the fearlessness and faithfullness of a Christ follower, defeated Golaith. Did you know that the same tribe Golaith was from came King Og who needed to have a bed made over 13 ft to accomadate him? Just an interesting fact.
Anywase, I was blessed from these passages because God put David in Saul's path to learn the events of a King, soldiers, and ways of Israel. He lived in Bethlehem but God annointed him under Saul's nose and still placed him in the king's palace! Even though he was annointed king, he still served Saul and waited. I pray that God can use me even though I seem to be in such a place where I don't know where to be used? I want to not live like the 'pagans' of this world and let others see the good deeds in my life so God can be glorified. I don't want to live like others around here and give in to worldy desires but I honestly want to do God's will. Maybe I am just hardening my heart and not wanting to hear that will, but maybe I am being shaped into someone God can use later on.

ANYWASE :)

Before I came home a couple of weeks ago, I purchased some Bently cups from my friend Leslie Wolfe's mother from here store in the antique store in greenwood. I grew up with Bently cups using them at our house but never wanted to pay the 20 something dollars for them BUT her mom gave me a GREAT deal on them and I absolutly love using them instead of the glass ones we would use each day. They are just practical.

I also came across these dark chocolate covered plums in the commissary the other day and Jake and I LOVE THEM! A serving is about 1/4 of a cup and about 2 points a serving for Weight Watchers. They are so satisfying and sweet :)

Sorry for another long post everyone! 

4th of July and Phone Fixings

WARNING: THIS IS A LONG POST

This past weekend with Jake was so wonderful! I have enjoyed each and every moment with him during this 4 day holiday and am definantley not looking forward to tomorrow. However, I do understand that there must be a million things around here to clean and I can get some cooking done.

4th of July!
How do I begin such a great day? We woke up and watched the 4th Harry Potter movie after we went and did the grocery shopping. I told Jake we would only be there for 20 minutes hoping to coerce him into coming with me and we ended up being gone a little over an hour but I love when someone pushes the cart giving both of my hands the chance to look through everything. Jake took a nap on the couch while I went for a walk with Jake and got ready for Ala Moana. We were going to go by the Land Rover Dealership out in Waikiki and look at a beautiful Land Rover that was on a 4th of July sale for $19,000 but we thought we would wait it out awhile. We then preceded into going to JCrew which happens to be the most wonderful place ever to shop! Jake bought me 2 plain t's and a BEAUTIFUL knitted summer sweater that were all on Final Sale with an additional 30% off! Afterwards, we walked around the mall for a bit and then got a taxi to drive down to Buffalo Wild Wings! I had been looking so forward to this dinner because I had been extra careful with my Weight Watcher Points for this treat meal :)

Afterwards, we walked back to AlaMoana mall to wait for the Finale Fireworks show! We had already waited for about 4 1/2 hours for this show. The fireworks display is ranked one of the top 25 shows in the nation and we were pretty excited to see it...around 2:30. When 7 o'clock came around, we both looked at each other, probley yawned, and packed the car up to head back home. I know, we are pretty pathetic. Jake and I usually go to bed each night around 8:30 and the show itself didn't start until 8:30 PM. So...we went home, got jake, and hiked up the hill behind our house to watch the Kailua Fireworks show over the Ocean.

It sprinkled a little bit but overall it was a great show and we weren't really upset that we missed the Waikiki show.

July 5th

Now today was an adventure! We had been wanting to take jake to the beach with us this holiday weekend so we woke up and left for the beach around 9:15 AM. When we got to the beach I neatly laid out our 3 beach towls, picnic basket, and umbrella while Jake went off to play fetch with jake. I was so excited to wear my new Jcrew floppy beach hat and wear my beautiful swimsuit Jake purchased for me last year and thought it was the most picture perfect day. Well, let me tell you what really happened. After fetch, jake didn't want to lay on HIS towl, he wanted to run and knock over our towls and umbrella and shake nasty wet sand all over me. Then he wanted to chase the people in the ocean. So Jake took him to shower off thinking it would help him calm down and I neatly arranged everything back to where it was. When Jake came back he was pretty exhausted and wanted to lay down all over the sand and NOT his own beach towl.



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So Handsome :)



So around this point, I was like, "Doesn't Jake like to play fetch?" Hinting to Jacob to move jake out of my way so I can relax while they go and play. So Jacob goes back out to the ocean and begins another round of fetch when I see Jake quickly bend over and pick up something black, shiny, and square from the ocean water. OH NO. He calmly walks back, sits down, and looks at his phone for awhile and then slips it into his shirt pocket. I want everyone to know that I have the calmest husband ever. He said while picking up jake's toys his phone falls onto the sand when all of the sudden a wave comes over it. We then pack up everything and leave to go put his phone in some rice as quickly as we can.
When we get home, I take jake to the back porch to give him a much needed bath while Jake goes inside to figure out what we are going to do. When we finally find out that we can go to the Apple store after setting up an appointment, that we can trade in his for a refurbished one for around $200. We head to the store and wait while everyone and their mother pushes and walks around the Apple store to see when we can start our meeting. The lady barely said anything to us the entire time, picks out a few rice we accidently left in his phone, types into her phone and ends us telling us she will give us a FREE Iphone 4 this one time because it was an accident! PRAISE THE LORD! We went from thinking this accident was going to cost us around $400 to $200 to FREE! I was so overwhelmed because I was already upset about this changing up our budget and car savings. The Lord def wanted to teach us both a lesson from today's events. Jake also thought he lost all his numbers but when we got home, he saw that he had backed up his phone on our computer :)
We are now just finishing up another Harry Potter movie and enjoying the evening with one another. I had planned on making this delicious meal but I think we will just have left-over pulled pork sandwhiches and corn!
Whew...what a day!