It's the season I guess

So.. Once again I am a little behind, probably due to the beach time and going out-n-about checking this place out. They say that people who live her temporarily get "island fever", where they get bored with the things that are here fast. I just don't see how that could be possible, unless your a homebody and do nothing besides sit on the couch.  Who doesn't want to walk along the beach and smell the fresh salty air? Swim in the crystal clear waters of the Pacific Ocean? Hike glorious mountains that overlook the many different sides of the island? Stay tan all year long? And most of all, eat pancakes with coconut syrup all day long! Ha! This last one has become somewhat of an addiction for me. I use to ONLY love IHOP pancakes, with their seasonal specials like pumpkin pancakes. But since moving here, we have tried the IHoP here and it's mediocre compared to the local Eggs-N- Things, or Wailana Cafe. I don't know how or what they do to these fluffy buttermilk hot cakes but mixed with the creamy coconut syrup, I was hooked on the first bite. I can't wait to move into the house, just so I don't have to eat there anymore!!! Hotel living is taking a toll on the waistline... 

Yummy goodness...

Tim and I signed up for our first 5k here on the island, the Jingle Rock Run. The proceeds went to Hawaii's Make A Wish, and how can one pass up this awesomeness of a gift giving run?!? Here's a few pics from our run ;)

Tim called me his own "elf on a shelf"

There are no after pics because I was literally dying of humidity!! However, we finished the run in 30:36, which is pretty darn awesome for me. Tim even had to stop and tie his shoes during the end and we both successfully completed the run without a single walk! For not training, in a long time, we did awesome! I know he can run faster, but we stayed together the whole run. ;)

It's hard to believe that tomorrow is Christmas Eve already. Being here, it sure doesn't feel like a "normal" December. There's no snow, no frosty windows, or chilly frigid air. There are Christmas decorations up all over town, however none in our own personal space. The tree and all our decorations are still in storage and won't be put up till next Christmas. (Tim says we will pull a Lampoon's Christmas then, lighting up our whole street, and making up for missing this year, ha). And most importantly, there will be no presents under the tree.  This year, we will be doing things our own way, where the few gifts that we picked          up for them, are in suitcases, for them to open. They aren't even wrapped this year. But hey, we saved some trees in this process. ;) I did make a sloppy tree shape thingy out of all our cards we got. Close enough huh? 

There will be a follow up blog after Christmas! Merry Christmas and happy New Year to all! Xoxo

Dates and things..

Since my last post, we have been busy checking some more things out. Both kids have also started their schools here. The middle school here goes from 7-8th grade (at least in our neighborhood), so Maddie has to go back to "elementary" school technically.. Our drive from the hotel to Fort Shafter is about 5 miles so you would think that we would get there pretty quickly, however, the traffic is the WORST part about being here. It takes us like 30-40 minutes, give or take. Maddie's school starts first at 0750, and Mason's, at 0830. Both children have made friends already and things are beginning to look up in their social world.  

While both kids were in school, Tim and I had a few dates, to ourselves. We did some exploring and have had some fun doing things without listening to the whining or complaining that we have been constantly hearing since October. We hit the beach, did some paddle boarding, hiked, and took some great pictures of God's beauty on the island. 

Here are some of the pics I took:

Here we are about to hike to see the Makapu lighthouse.

This is on the way up...

I think it's so neat to see the different levels of the water here. Such clear waters.

Of course a date selfie❤️

Then this Saturday was Tim's birthday. He wanted to go to the North Shore and do some swimming along with finding and eating his birthday dinner at this famous shrimp truck. It was a wonderful and memorable time. We found this park and decided to ride some waves "literally". The kids had a blast, aside from the few wipeouts they each had, to include Tim and me too. Those waves were no joke. I haven't been taken out by a wave in I don't know how long! Needless to say, I was done ha! 

(This was nothing... The big ones are on the big camera!!)

Here's some of dinner!

This is the shrimp truck, Giovanni's. You get to sign their truck after eating there.

We all signed a little something that will forever be on their truck!!

And there's the birthday boy, with the funnel cake of all funnel cakes!!! It was delicious!! (How does one go on a Diet with all these goodies?!?) Here's until next blog... Love to all!

Now this is Paradise

It's been a few days since my last post, and that's because I've been enjoying some good ole family time with my loves! When we first arrived at the airport, we were greeted by some of the people that Tim will be working with. We totally weren't expecting to even see anyone so it was a completely nice surprise. They even brought us fresh lei's. 

After getting to our hotel room we were so hungry and tired that we just wanted to eat and sleep. There is a 5 hour time difference from Oklahoma to here so it was already way past our bedtime by Oklahoma time. 

The next day, we woke up super early, ate breakfast and headed out to do some sightseeing. Took a few pics from our balcony too. 

We took a drive to the NEX, which is basically like a mall-but it's the Navy Exchange located on Pearl Harbor/Hickam AFB.  Found some Christmas gifts for our family and friends ;)

Then we ran by the commissary for a few groceries to live off of in the room so we aren't constantly spending. Saw this and nearly died!!! Yikes.

After we checked out the beach and just strolled along. Took some more pics with the phone and even got a family shot from a nice woman who offered to take it.

It's so amazing here. I'm never leaving!!!

Tomorrow we will be registering the kids for their new schools. Hope that we get everything done so they can go and meet some kids their ages already. This way when we move into our home in January, they'll already have friends. That'd be nice! Oh, I did get an update on my Tessie❤️ too. Here's her pic too :) Can't wait to get her here!! I miss her sweet face...

Tonight we found a popular ice cream sho called Bubbies. It's famous around here. This was their menu:

Crazy names, great ice cream!!

Have a good night!!