Happy Thanksgiving!

Today was a great thanksgiving holiday... I love the spirit of gratitude that thanksgiving brings, and wish we could be more thankful all year round! 

I love this quote and have been feeling especially blessed this holiday season.  

It was hard not to be at home on this day with the family... but I was blessed to spend a week with my parents this month!  

Our Hawaii friends (the Aubrey's) had an awesome dinner at their place with some friends.  It was great... I made stuffing, which turned out a little soggier than I would've liked, but the whole pan was eaten so I think it was okay!  And I also made some bomb sweet potatoes.  I found a weight watchers recipe, and as I was cooking it taste tested it and decided it wasn't all that great so I modified it with more butter and brown sugar... needless to say, no longer had the nutritional factor going for it but they were delish. 

Also feeling grateful to be with the hubby and spend some good quality time since his return from his latest mission in Tarawa!  I had a blast hearing his tales of adventure from his latest TDY... it was a very eventful mission and he loved learning the history about the battle that happened there in WWII.  

There were 1700 American marines killed on this island in '43.  

Here is Mike standing next to one of the huge guns the Japanese used to fire at the Americans when they were invading the island... they had ripped them out of navy ships and put them in strategic points around the island to defend themselves. 

As the American ships were sailing in they got stuck in the reef about 600 yards from beach and the marines had to get off the ship and wade through the water (under heavy machine gunfire) to get into the beach to even start the battle with the Japanese.  

What a crazy (and overlooked) piece of WWII history! 

So that's the latest, just enjoying our time together!  

PS... one other quick funny that happened yesterday.. so Mike has been talking about how he wants to get the new Halo 4 game... well I decided I would surprise him yesterday and while he was out running errands I went to Gamestop and picked it up for him.  When I returned home (and my heart was beating out of my chest, every time I try and surprise someone with anything I nearly give myself a heart attack) HE WAS SITTING ON THE COUCH PLAYING HIS NEW HALO GAME!  Yes, that's right, we were simultaneously buying the same game.  Talk about being on the same wavelength!  Oh I just love him. <3

52 minutes

Mike gets home in 52 minutes.

That is all. : )

...my days at ho'okele...

Let me just start off this post by saying that life is crazy!  Good, hectic, stressful (the good kind) and full of joy. 

My job is one source of my contentment.  It's so strange how much work influences my outlook on life... probably a little too much, but I feel a lot of reward when it comes to my job.  I am a scheduler / caregiver for a care at home company called Ho'okele.  I have never worked in a more cohesive office, where everyone works together with a great attitude (except one lady, who shall remain nameless. but she's pretty much the exception to the standard there).  

I go to work and the time just flies.  And that is a huge blessing.  

I am grateful to have a job that I love in an economy where so many suffer and struggle finding work.  

God bless America! 

{football saturday}

So I woke up on Friday morning with a pit in my stomach.  

I had dreamed that Alabama lost their football game, and I had to tell Mike over the phone that his team's national title dreams were dashed.  

I was so relieved that it was just a dream... over breakfast I told my parents I just didn't think I could handle his disappointment over his team losing!  It makes me so sad in my heart.  

Then this Saturday arrived and.. sure enough, to my dismay, Bama lost their game.  

And so now, the phone call that I usually anticipate with great excitement...well... I am dreading a little bit. 

Perhaps we take football a little too seriously in this house.  : ) 

Roll Tide & Rise and Shout!  (sidenote... BYU smashed Idaho.  This is nothing groundbreaking, but its happy news for me!!)

{never forget}

Today we got to spend a lot of time touring Pearl Harbor.  I never get tired of visiting the historic harbor sites and remembering the WWII attacks.  

We started with the USS Utah. 

Here there are about 60 men still entombed from the attacks.  Very sobering sight to see. 

We also saw the USS Oklahoma Memorial...

Each white pillar represents one of the 429 lost souls of the Oklahoma.  

The Oklahoma is near where the Battleship Missouri is docked.  The Mighty Mo is where the Japanese signed the surrender treaty in 1945.  

From this bench near the Mo you can see the USS Arizona memorial as well. 

Mom and dad also enjoyed trying to imitate the famous kissing statue... 

It was such a fun afternoon.  I saw this quote I really liked at the Oklahoma memorial -

"for history does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid"

-pres eisenhower

Thankful for this wonderful country we live in, and those then and now who keep it free. 

{disheartened}

Like everyone else, I have been tired of the endless negativity of the political elections this year, and was glad when it came to an end today.  

I was saddened by the results - Since Mitt ran in 2008 I have been so excited and hopeful and to have the hopes dashed again was disheartening.  

For several reasons, which I don't want to delve into in this post, I feel that Mitt is the man for America.  

Here are a few pictures that really touched my heart this election year - it's true a picture speaks a thousand words!! 

I am so grateful to live in a country where we can vote and elect our leaders.  Where we are free to worship how we choose, and to fill our time with extracurricular activities.  Love you 'Merica! 

Historical Honolulu Sunday

This Sunday was really nice!  I got the chance to take my parents to the Moanalua Ward with me, and it was so fun to introduce them to everyone.  It was great. 

We went downtown after church and saw Kamehameha and Iolani Palaces.  For some reason I thought they do a ka'maina discount every first Sunday and let you in for free, but I guess it's actually the second sunday of each month... ANYWAY, we just walked around the buildings and took fun hawaii pictures. 

Mom & Dad in front of the Kamehameha statue.  Irrelevant sidenote there was a Japanese tour bus taking pictures as we were, so I'm pretty sure we photobombed at least 30 Japanese people's pictures.  That's just how we roll. 

I really enjoyed Dad's impersonation of the haka (not sure how to spell that, but I think that's right). 

Mom and I in front of a super sweet banyan tree! Those things are amazing.  

After we walked around the palaces we went up to the Pali lookout and enjoyed the view there.  Mom didn't like the story of the Warriors being forced off the edge of the cliff, however... 

Everything is so green and beautiful at the look out.  It kind of has this mystical feeling there. 

There you have it!! Our day of Hawaiian history.  I am sure there will be more to come! 

Confession.

I have a super embarrassing confession to make.  I just updated my password to log in to blogger... It used to be *takes deep breath* jakeheaps.  There. I said it.  

The awful quarterback from BYU who I would like to purge from my memory was just starting his reign of terror when I created this blog.  

And I still had not changed that password.  Shame on me.

Until now.  Sigh of relief.  As a sidenote my husband has had discussions with me about password security... so just so you know, I didn't change it to anything ridiculous like rileynelson.  

I have mostly been busy with work as of late.  Which is good.  I love my job at Ho'okele in the office, and I love the part time field work I do as a caregiver.  It's a perfect balance for me, and honestly, who gets to do both?  I worked with a patient this week who gave me some flowers from his garden... they are gorgeous and absolutely made my day! 

Also enjoyed a nice date up on the north shore with my man since I have last blogged... wow it's been a while!  Anyway, he is pretty hot and I really enjoy this picture so I'll share it with you. 

So rugged and manly with the sexy button up and the shades... and such a boy with the cotton candy flavored shaved ice.  One of the million reasons why he is perfect for me.  

Life is good.  Today the parents flew in from the mainland... It has been so fun.  The past few weeks I have been busy making ribbon leis with my friend Kandace to prepare for their arrival.  We spent hours making these leis.  My mom's already broke but they do look sweet.

They had just arrived from their journey at this point, and were pretty tired.  Mom power napped while dad & I watched the Bama game for a little while.  

We left just before the 3rd quarter to catch the sunset at Hickam Beach... (man I must really love my parents to be dragged away from the nail biting end of that game... spoiler alert, bama WON!).  

It was a beautiful night.  A wonderful sunset to behold. 

There was a flag up for some function that was going on, so we took a picture by it.  This is my beautiful mother... 

And we also played some boggle by the beach... I won't say who won.  : ) 

So glad to be with my parents and enjoying paradise!