I am probley the happiest person on this Marine base today! Last night was my book club at the Pantling's house. First off, I want to say how much I enjoy going over to their house. Her family lives on Ford Island in the Pearl Harbor area and she actually lives in one of the houses that was from the WWll times. It is a BEAUTIFUL home. Imagine a little beach cottage in your head and thats what it looks like. Complete with a sun room and white bricked fireplace.
Sigh*
Oh, and did I mention their front yard is the sunken USS Utah?
Anywase, when I arrived there I was greeted by her and her wonderful two youngest boys and the rest of the nice women in the club. As usual, I go look for Jake who gets put up during our meetings and I just loved on him for awhile. When we got all situated with our hot cups of apple cider and warm homemade oatmeal cookies, Veronica decides to let Jake out of his pen. There was probley 9-10 ladies there all in front of me and whistling and calling out Jake's name. He runs right passed them and tries to jump into my small little chair (ooops...I still haven't told her we allow him on all of our furniture...)! He then precedes to ignore each other nice lady and is completly contempt in laying his precious little head in my lap for the next 2 hours. Veronica announces how much it would help out her husband if we could watch him this weekend and I was all for that! After awhile she still notices this beautiful animal all over me and says that we could watch him all week if we want! I knew my Jake would be so excited if I came home with a little suprise guest.
He was :)
Low and Behold he runs upstairs and sprawls out right in the middle of our bed with Jake and I on both sides with our arms wrapped around his huge middle!
Complete Perfection
So today we go out for a good walk around the neighborhood so he can mark his old territory and played a few rounds of fetch.
He is simply beautiful.



I am SO HAPPY




Look at that precious face...

 Earlier today, Veronica called me and asked if I want to come over Thursday and make some pumpkin and apple pies! I was really excited and told her I would go into town to buy the crust and pie filling.
Let me just tell you this woman is the complete essence of Home and Garden; as well as, Country Living and Martha Stewart.
She almost laughs and says, "Emily, we don't use pie filling from cans in this house! Go pick up some Gala Apples and Granny Smiths. We'll talk about the crusts later."
I'm going to be there all day. BUT, will be coming home with a made from scratch apple pie for my sweet husband.

I finally took some pictures of my Harvest tree!

To me, it just adds so much to the room. But this picture is helped by Jake also.

2 months from today will be Christmas!

I am still working on my homework and still very much dislike school but now that I am actually starting my two projects, the load is getting slightly less pressurizing. I think thats a word.

Anywase, hope everyone enjoys their Tuesday! I certainly am!

Weekend Recap!!

This past weekend was so wonderful! Friday night we went out to Walmart to by some storage containers so I can have a place to store all of my Christmas decorations instead of piling them up in the random corner/outlet in our frontroom. I LOVE how our Harvest tree looks in the house. It brightens up the entire downstairs and I don't ever want to take it down.
Saturday we woke up bright and early (6 AM) to watch the Razorback game. We skyped with Aubree and Linus and enjoyed the morning cheering on the Hogs. Right afterwards, we went on a beautiful drive down towards the North Shore of the island. We don't ever go down towards that end because it takes about an hour or so to get there and that uses gas. BUT, Jake was really excited all week to take me out to his 'surprise' and I was really excited about getting to ride in our new truck!


This is China Man's Hat




Beautiful clear water



I just randomly was taking pictures along our drive...

Arriving at the Cliff Point where my husband feels the need to go to the very edge...



Getting a little closer to the edge.... notice how far away I am in all these pictures.




They had some Hawaiin ancient legend about this once being a great lizard....hmmm




Beautiful





The fisherman had there long poles set up for some fish




Jake's checking them out. They had little bells on them and they started jingling when a fish was caught





Caught him getting sprayed by the ocean wave




The man in the white almost died...i'll write more about him later





Trying to get some "Chevy Runs Deep" photographs. haha



Needless to say we had an amazing day! After that we went home and had some leftover chicken penne (Pioneer Woman....) and watched tv and cleaned.
The man in the white shirt was trying to scoop up some water on the edge of the cliff, tripped, and would have fell of the cliff and died if it wasn't for that man next to him who grabbed and saved him. I was really surprised I didn't scream. Jake stood there and took a picture of it....

Sunday morning we woke up and went to a new church out in Kaneohe. One of Jake's friends has been wanting to get back into church and Jake took him out to this church last Sunday while I was back in Arkansas and the guy really enjoyed it. We went back yesterday and it was pretty good. It isn't a Baptist church so I am a little scared about the differences in beliefs. It is a non-denominational church. We came back home and had the Pioneer Woman's Perfect Pot Roast and her creamy mash potatoes! YUMMM. My house smelt SO good! We then went to Lanikai Juice for some organic smoothies, drove over to Kailua beach and put the tailgate down and sat and watched the ocean. It was so romantic and ALL JAKES IDEA! :)
Weight Watcher meals are coming back to the house this week....well half and half....
I go back to my book club tonight. I have been a little offended by some of the things that the author keeps talking about as the duties of wives but I understand that there are going to be things I don't agree with.
I have a precious little girl fast asleep in the next room I need to go wake up to take her back home so I am going to get off of here for now. I will post soon about my Harvest Tree!!

HAVEN"T posted in FOREVER

It has been 2 weeks since I last posted on anything. While I was home, I was way too busy to blog and didn't want to miss one second being away from my family.
I had such a great time.
We went to Eureka Springs and ate at the Rogue Manor. It was so wonderful. My mom, Aubree, and I almost died after eating so many wonderful ribs....



I have such a wonderful and beautiful family




my sisters and I at our favorite store in Eureka Springs: Something Simple

 We stayed the night there and the next day went antiquing and drove through the most beautiful landscape in all of Arkansas. The fall colors were in full bloom!
Went and ran around the Promenade in Rogers, ate at MiMi's and had such a DELICIOUS muffin and then went to Masons where I got a pair of Seven's that I'm supposed to be forgetting about because they are for Christmas but I can't forget about them because they are absolutley beautiful....
sorry mom...
We celebrated mom's birthday Wednesday and it was so great to all be together. She ended up buying this beautiful pyrex collection

except she got a few more pieces...

I got to be there for little Brooks birthday! He is absolutly precious!
We took the Wolfe's family pictures last Sunday and let me just say once again how beautiful that family is.



Such a happy, blessed, and beautiful family!



Baby Brooks ..... Awww

So perfect...

Let me just say that I would love to have a baby right now. I just wish I was a little closer to home. Also, everytime I held him I desperatly missed little Brock and have cried today after seeing how big that little boy has gotten.
While I was away, my husband found a truck. A very beautful LARGE truck. I can't see over the hood while driving it but that may be normal....

I will take more pictures of it this weekend. I think we may go for a little drive. I have yet to really look at it seeing as how my husband takes it to work every day and leaves his poor motorcycle just sitting in the garage. All 56 mpg of it.....

I also had Sarah's Wedding Shower at FBC!
We had such a great time and I was so excited for her and all her wonderful gifts. People are so very kind to our family!

My mom took me to Hobby Lobby and we had a field day just picking out Christmas ornaments and decorations for my home here. We also got all the supplies to make a Harvest tree! I'll have to take pictures later. I finally convinced Jake that its not a Christmas tree...its a fall Harvest tree ;)
Mom introduced me to Shiny Brights which look just like the Christmas ornaments my memaw had on her tree!

I officially hate school. With every ounce in my entire being. I hate that it makes me not be able to sleep at night because I am filled to the rim with anxiety and worry and I hate that the teachers expect you to keep every book you buy throughout your college expierence and not sell them back and then expect you to have all those books handy in order for you to write a 15 page paper over your last 2 years of school. I hate school. I hate it.
Ughhh..
I also hate that i have to go down to the homeless shelter and seem like a complete jerk because I CANNOT volunteer (against class assignments) and just do 'research' on the facility. People there think I am so rude and it probley looks that way. I hate my last 8 weeks of college.

Any other news.....
I have to go to homework.

I will hopefully update in more detail later.
If I already haven't died from extreme anxiety and malhomeworkogen....its a disease .... for real

Almost Home

Wow it has been 4 months since I was last home with my family. In a lot of ways that time went by so fast but then it went by very slow. I leave tomorrow night and start my 21 hour trip home. At the end of this year, I would have made 17 trips from Hawaii to Arkansas and visa versa. I don't even want to calculate all the hours that is up in the air. Most people want to just make 1 trip here....ughhh.... I hate it. My biggest regret in life...honest and dead serious....is not having frequent flyer miles.

My week home is going to go by so fast tho! I have something schedualed each day but at least it will be with my family.

In other news.
We are talking about a car again. We just paid off Jake's motorcycle in July and have not had any payments on anything. It has been pretty nice. However, we need a car we can rely on. If Jake reinlists, we know we will be traveling a lot on the mainland and will need a good fuel efficient car; however, there are some nice trucks here! We have been putting back enough money by the time next year rolls around, we would be able to put down more than half on a new car....but if we wait then we may have to spend more ridiculous amounts of money to fix up our car.

We are also considering reinlisting. Like I mentioned earlier, Jake passed with flying colors on his GT score and is wanting to change his MOS to the top rated suicidal job in the country....just makes me happy all over again. BUT, Jake is a very calm man. He never yells or gets overly nervous, angry, excited, or emotional. Being an ATC may just be what God designed him for.
Maybe we would get stationed in South Carolina and we could do history reinactments! That would be so cool...I'm not joking either. Ever since my Historical Sight Interpretation class, it has just fascinated me what all goes into those performances and museum life.
Sigh* If only we could move to the Carolina's.



Doing a reinactment for Tales of the Crypt!



Sarah's shower and bridal portraits are coming up in the next few days and I am so happy that I am able to be apart of it all.

This week I had planned to spend each day out on the beach but instead it has decided to rain and be miserably cloudy. So instead I made a hand made Christmas ornament!

Yesterday I continued on with my book for my book club and was again just slapped in the face. Being in the military, for such a long time gave me the impression of a 'right' to be bitter and miserable because our life is filled with daily sacrifices. But I was challenged to read the book of Phillipians as a letter to wives toward their husbands.
I was filled with convictions over and over again because I don't truly thank God for all of my circumstances. There are so many aspects of our marraige that I am thankful of but when Jake is away for deployments or trainings, I don't really focus on those wonderful and joyful blessings and kinda just focus in on the 'pour me' attitudes.

"All the days of the afflicted are evil: but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast" (Proverbs 15:15)

"....for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content" (Philippians 4:11)

"...and be content with such things as ye have" (Hebrews 13:5)

There was a passage that struck home to me:

"Some women get it in their minds that if the family would just move to the country, they would be happy and their children would not be getting into sinful habits. Or, if they lived closer to the church, or away from bad neighbors, or spent more time in family devotions, or any number of its, ands, or buts, then life would be better. This is a sure recipe for disaster. Discontentment is not a product of circumstances, it is the state of the soul.....Thankfullness is how you think; joy is the abundance it produces."


I can easily see myself thinking this. If only we lived closer to home, closer to family and friends. If only we had a nicer car....nicer 'things' then life wouldn't be so hard.
Ummm. No. Paul writes in Phil. that he has learned to be content in whatever circumstances. Whatever life throws at him.
As a wife, I don't need to focus on the little bad things that turns into bitterness. Deployments are going to happen. Seperation is a fact of life. Moving and unstability is 'normal'. Loneliness will happen again and again and again. Goodbyes are always present. But with Christ all things are possible and He will give me strength!
AMEN!

Whew.
"You can practice joy and thanksgiving. Every day, ever right response makes the fingers of your sould find the notes of joy and thanksgiving easier and easier."

Now, I just have to learn to find joy in sitting in an airplane for 15 hours....

:)

Weight Watchers Mexican Chili

The other day, I made some Mexican chili with some Chedder Cheese toasts. I had never had a chili that tasted like this!

Points Value: 4. Serving Size 1 cup. Servings: 6

Ingredients:

I lb ground round

1 c prechopped onion

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes with garlic, undrained

1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 c hot water

2 T chili powder

1 oz semisweet chocolate, coarsley chopped

1 t ground cumin

1 t salt

1/2 t dried oregano

Cook beef and onion in a large saucepan over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until beef is browned, stirring to crumble. Drain if necessary, and return beef mixture to pan

While your beef and onion is cook, slice up some French bread into six 1/4 in slices

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Place bread slices on a baking sheet and sprinkle some low fat cheddear cheese on them...

I drizzled some EVOO on top to help crisp it up some. Bake until they are browned and cheese is melted. About 8 minutes

After you drained your beef, add tomatoes and remaining ingredients...

forgot to include this very important spice into the picture...

Never would have thought....

only use 1 ounce

Mix well; cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes.

I love trying new types of chilis!

Sunday Sunday

Hello everyone!

This weekend went by far too fast.
We went out to eat with a group of friends to Haliewa Joes for my friends birthday! We had a great time with them, we love hanging out with their family! I recieved one of my mom's care packages earlier that day and she sent me some AMAZING Aveeno products that I am in love with! She also sent Jake a HUGE jar of Nutella and sent me some fat free Omega rich peanut butter...lol. I had a piece of whole wheat bread with the Nutella on it and it made me soooooo sick. I am not going to go into the details. This past week has not been good for me. With the Pioneer Woman soup and this nutella. Ughh. So I will never have it again apparently. Thats the way my body works. If something makes me throw up, I tend to NEVER eat it again. Maybe even refuse to eat at the same resturant. I learned about this psychological situation and it is normal. But I guess after being on a diet for so long, your body can't handle certain foods without having a VERY nauseous reaction.
....
I'm so pathetic.
So I had a nice plain salad for dinner and a hot black coffee.

Saturday, we had to awake before sunrise to catch the beginning of the football game. When we watch the games, my family likes to Skype with one another. It makes it seem as if we are all together. I really enjoy those times.
We went to Ala Moana mall afterwards and tried to find me a new dress to wear to my sisters shower next Sunday but everything was WAY too expensive. :(
Jake got terribly sick later so we quickly came home and rested.
Today Jake's mouth was really sore again so we stayed home and I worked on finishing my...his stocking. I had decided not to do any of the sequins or beads for it but mom sent me some beading needles in the box so I thought I better put them to good use.
I am leaving Thursday night to go home for about a week! I am soooooo excited. My family is trying to plan a little vacation for mom's birthday. We love the Heart Stone Inn in Eureka Springs! It is so perfect for my family. Hopefully we can stay in the cabin and spend a couple of days all together! We love this Inn because each room as a different name and personality. I believe my parents has stayed in every room. I can't remember how many rooms I have stayed in..3 or 4 I believe. But it is so perfect. The owners are chefs and each morning they have a beautiful gourmet homemade breakfast prepared for us! Sigh.....

But...
I am going to miss Jake SOO much. But I don't want to sound pathetic because it is only 10 days away. I hate hearing other women complaining about not being able to see there husbands for a little while. Too me now, anything under 3 months is NOT worthy of complaints.
Military living has made me into this non-sympathetic person......
But I will miss him. Being married to someone like Jake just makes you want to spend every moment of every day with them!
He's so.........absolutley......completley......
wonderful

Well I am going to bed! We do tend to go to bed a little early here to many people's standards. Around 8-8:30 I head upstairs, run a warm bath with my Lavender bubble bath, and then wrap up in a quilt, maybe read a good book (anything by Dianna Wynn Jones) and watch As Time Goes By.
Jake and I always go to bed together. That's just another wonderful thing I love about him. When I am ready to go to bed, he often puts down the controller, turns off the tv, stops anything he is doing just so I don't have to go upstairs alone.
I know......it 'sounds' pathetic but I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts. Sadly, one day I realize he won't really want to spend each second with me but right now I am soaking it up! Once you spend endless nights only hoping for a phone call to tell each other goodnight/good morning....you don't EVER want to take nights/morning/afternoons/evenings together for granted.

SO on that note...goodnight!