Currently

Loving: Hawaii. Everything about it makes me so happy. I also have been working out like a fiend, so my body is tightening up everywhere and I just feel good. I like it.

Reading: A gazillion books. Mainly mermaid books.  I've also been working my way through this Fairy series by Carrie Jones. Love it. Also reading "Secret of the Sirens" by Julia Golding.  I'm also still trying to read through the Bible, I was not great at reading my Bible and my chapters for a while, so I'm going to try to get back on track. My goal by the end of September is to finish Job and Ezra. Accountability. Yay.

Watching: Sooo....fall premieres. Love them. When I have free time/when they come available on Hulu because the time change is so weird here in Hawaii with TV shows I've been watching Castle, Glee, The New Normal, and coming back in a few weeks is Once Upon a Time, Vampire Diaries, and Modern Family. Stoked. Love fall TV season. Always the best shows.

Anticipating: Moving into our new house. It's been gosh, 1 1/2 years since Jeremy and I have lived by ourselves in a house, and the first time that both of us will have day jobs, and will be actually settled in one place for a solid length of time. Super stoked. I feel like everything is falling together in the right place. I'm also looking forward to starting my job next week, I'm a lead day camp counselor at the Salvation army here. Oh, it's gonna be awesome!

Listening to: 80's Cardio. It's the Pandora station I'm currently loving and rocking out to. It's pretty grand, and good get ready in the morning music.

Planning: Activities. With fall coming up, there are lots of fun things to do here in Hawaii and on Hickam. (Also, I can now cross off Cliff Diving off my glitter list...:-) ) I also broke my watch while doing it...I know. Sad. The picture with the lady on the hill is the falls that I jumped at last weekend with Jeremy. Someone told us it was a 2 hour hike total, it was definitely about 4 hours, but it was worth it.  I couldn't see the bottom of the water and it was murky, but I just told myself to buck up and get in, and check it out, I was not eaten by a mutant swamp shark.  Good news everyone, good news.

Working on: Getting stories ready for next week's 1st week of camp. I'm in charge of doing the Bible stories/theme/and verse of the day.  Super stoked, this is what I did for VBS for my mom and Adri, so this is right up my alleyway.  My supervisor told me this was part of my job and this HUGE grin came across my face. I want to make it awesome and help these kids know how cool God is and to learn these stories while taking them to heart.  My work is pictured below, it's like a resort, it is so beautiful.

Wishing: That I win the raffle for the tail. Oh gosh, wishing with all my heart.  And still wishing for the right name to fall into my mind.  Most of the ones I had in the beginning, I have found were taken by other mers, since it is a small community I thought it'd be bad taste to have the same name as someone else.
  Well, whether I win the contest or not my tail will be here by the end of November! So exciting!  These are a few of the tails that the lady has made in the past.  She does beautiful work and does a great job painting them!

Well, I have training today from 10-5 and tomorrow as well, I've already met some of them that I will work with and I have a great feeling about it. 
Also, did I tell you we put in our application to adopt a dog? Dear Lord, I found one that is a Shar Pei Lab mix that is tugging on my heart strings, 


We will see! Somebody the other day asked me why we weren't getting a puppy, I said, well we don't have the time to train a dog (although how cute are they!), and we decided to get our dog like we will some of our children, "ready made and needing love". 
We have a place in our hearts for a dog, and God knows that, so hopefully soon we'll be united with him/her!
Love, 
Aj

Elf Fun, Blue Stop Signs, and Chevelle.

So you ever have those days when you are driving and the perfect song comes on and you realize that everything in that moment is perfect and you wouldn't change a thing?
 ::The song is Ho Hey by The Lumineers it's the video below.

You should definitely listen to it as you read this blog post. It's going to make you smile and raise your spirits, and maybe make you think of me jamming out in my car like a dork to this song and make you grin a little more. 
:-D Sneaky Aj.::
 I had that moment a couple of days ago, and things have just kept getting better.  I am LOVING Hawaii. Believe it or not, there are some people who don't like living here. I'm confused by that, but that's their prerogative I suppose. :-)
So!!! We have a bunch of fintastic things to discuss! (I'm finding more and more Mermaidy sayings every day, especially with living near the ocean, it's been a whale of a good time).
Went to my first concert in quite some time, Dawn had an extra ticket, and it was to Chevelle. Now if any of you know me, you know that this is not usually the type of music I listen to, (although, when I'm not spewing glitter and happiness from every orifice and need to listen to something a little less happy, I have a playlist on my ipod that is labeled "Angey" it was supposed to be "Angry" but I was so upset when I wrote it that I mispelled it and never corrected it out of spite. So now I suppose it's just 'ridiculous' spelled incorrectly. awesome.)  The concert was FANTASTIC. Oh my word I had so much fun, I markered on some tattoos I'm thinking about, put on my cute pants and dancing shoes, and my red lipstick and I was ready to go. We tore it up, but not like the guy did in the almost-mosh-pit fight next to us, that was a little nerve wracking. But the openers were "The White Jackets" who were quite good as well. Someone asked us what we were doing there, and when they found out we were having a girls night out they just laughed.  I guess the average girl's night does not include going to a rock concert. Either way I came home slightly hard of hearing, and totally happy.

Amanda and I with our prizes

My other "I need to make friends here" adventure was to the Hickam Community Enlisted Spouses event on Tuesday night. The theme was Hell's Kitchen.  No lies, I like meeting people, but I was super nervous. Anyways, I walk in,  after getting lost a few times in my car and going to three different wrong places, finding the place on my first try, and everyone was super welcoming. I got put on the Sundae Challenge with Amanda.  We rocked it out and made a "Hawaiian Love Sundae". With pinapple, nuts, and chocolate, and strawberries. We made second which was exciting and I got a free chocolate mint sauce (my two favorite things in food). I was a happy camper, not to mention there was TONS of food. Yum.
I made some solid friends and we ended up working out the next day, 4 mile power walk, and then an 'athletic core conditioning' class. "Hell and Back in an Hour" is what they should really call it. It was NUTS. I hurt so bad afterwards, I was waddling, heck, I'm still half waddling and it's three days later. :-) Then yesterday we went on a hike (Beth, Jen, and me) up to Diamond Head and that was fantastic.  I'm really glad that I made friends here who like to work out, it's gonna keep me on my toes, that's for darn sure. :-)

There is this building called "The Airman's Attic" everything is free. 

Everything. You can't resell it, but it's like a goodwill but it's free and for enlisted family members, which is great, because we need things, like end tables, and random shelves. I also found this beauty there yesterday. Yes, that is a Buddy the Elf costume from Elf in case you were wondering. I now know what I am going to be for Halloween. An epic elf that's what. :-) It's a little big on me, so I'm going to get out my sewing machine once we move in and take it in I don't know, like 10 inches. It's an XL, and I'm a S/M. It's pretty funny, but there are even elf booties, I could NOT pass this up.
 I'm not quite sure how big of a deal Halloween is here, but I know the Enlisted Wives group is doing a halloween event, so I figured I needed something fun. Last year I went as a Blue Crayola Crayon, so I figure I needed up to up my game a bit. 

Check mate Crayola. Check mate.

 Driving here is not near as bad as I thought it would be. Not by a long shot, so long as you are not stupid and talking on your phone (which is illegal here anyways, at least on base) then you are good to go.
I've gotten lost a good deal many times, but now I know where tons of stuff is...including the nearest place I can buy a shake at (need to know the important things in life in case of emergencies). 
 So I was driving the other day, and saw this, what do you do with a blue stop sign?  Stop and take a picture obviously. Do not fret, I was the passenger in this situation.  Pretty awesome though I know. Only in Hawaii.
Also, here is a picture of the newest lady in our family, our Chrysler Siebring. Gosh, I love her. She drives beautifully. Love love love it. Just great, and lots of trunk space! And she's this blue/purple color. There was a dent in the back but this guy in a car the other day asks if we wanted to get it fixed for $250, we say sure and pull over and park in a parking lot, (during the day, lots of people around, so not near as creepy as you think) and I talked him down to $150, due to my mad-bargaining skills I learned in China.

Saphira :-)

We got the dent out, and I was stoked, because we got $500 off of the price because of that dent, so we got a pretty grand deal. I just need to figure out a name for her, I'm thinking Saphira.

 On Sunday we went to a new church, and it was really great, the people were crazy welcoming, and they were all on-fire for God. I think we'll go back sometime, but we will see. We're going to try out a church on base that is closer (the other one is 30 minutes away). Some of the new ladies I met on Tuesday night are Christians, and so that's been cool to talk to them about, and their thoughts about things. 
I'm making friends, and that's really cool. Branching out works. I think people are just surprised I'm on top of things so fast from coming from Iowa and for my first base. I just don't like sitting around doing nothing.
 I also have my first flocking tonight. Where we go and put flamingos in peoples yards for a donation towards the HCES club. I joined the right group.  

Finally, it is official, we have a BEAUTIFUL home. So stoked. Long story short we were going to get a Historic Home (which is fancy words for, was here during the Pearl Harbor Attack), and then I talked to a few wives and they said that we could get a different home due to different things, and so I asked and the leasing lady offered us a new home, it's two level, 2 bedroom, 1.5 bath, and a lovely lawn. We also have a solar panel on the roof (yay renewable energy!)
It's in a great part of base (the whole base is a great part of base because the whole thing looks like a resort, gorgeous), and it's near my first friend's Dawn's house which is great that she is just a walk down the street. I'm so in love with this house, and there is  HUGE tree that is blossoming in my front yard with what looks like stargazer lilies mixed with cherry blossoms, so pretty. We move in October 1st, which is also my first day of work. We'll make it work somehow. So many flowers and pretty things around it, I think I'm allowed to plant some flowers, we'll see. I'm beyond stoked about this house.

I know it may sound lame, but I feel like I'm where I belong. Sometimes in the past, I feel like I've been stuck in a weird time thing, or that I just felt out of place. But God's watching over us, and we are making roots and friends, and it's such a good feeling.  If you ever want to chat, know that I am 5 hours behind Iowa. 

So happy.
Love you all,
The very contented adventurer,
Aj
Also: Important prayer request. I entered a raffle for a tail. (The fact that this is even a raffle is mind-blowingly awesome)  Pray that I would have favor with the online randomizer. ;-D Results are posted Sept. 30th. That's all on the mermaid front, still haven't decided on a name...

Guess what guess what?!

There is a rainbow every day in Hawaii! Love it!

So lots of fun news, some are still in the works, and I can't tell you about them...but I have other news!

We unofficially officially maybe have a home.  We are checking it out tomorrow, and if it works then it's ours! Pray that it's perfect because as much as I love this hotel, I'm stoked for our house!  We went and checked out the model home, and it was lovely. 2 bedroom, PANTRY, and PLUSH carpet! I was pretty darn excited!  This also means that all the DIY shows I've been watching are going to be paying off fairly soon, be on the lookout for some fun DIY bits in here of things I'll make for our new home, I already have a few ideas in the works...can you say National Geographic End Table?...


Today we went snorkeling at Hanama Bay! It was formed a long time ago from volcanic activity, which reminds me when I was in 7th grade, my favorite movie was Dante's Peak. Why, I have no clue. But to this day, I still think it is absolutely fantastic, I actually watched part of it today, so good. Just like my breakfast, love pancakes.
 Back to snorkeling, the drive there was intense, but the swimming itself was a lot of fun. It was pretty cloudy which was nice so it wasn't too bright, but it was still a little chilly.
You'd be surprised that it's pretty mild temperature wise.  When we first got out into the reef it was bustling with fish activity and we saw a sea turtle!! However by mid-morning most of the fish were gone. We got to see lots of fish, and coral, I made sure not to make any anemones, while I was there by not ruining any of the sea life.. Makes me really excited for all things Hawaii!!

Our big news is that today we bought our car!!! It's a 2008 Chrysler Siebring, she's beautiful. It was 8:30 tonight when we got her, so I just have a picture with my car key, I'll get some pics with her tomorrow, she's this really cool blue silver color, so happy.


Also exciting, we went and got library cards today! So I got some new books, I just finished The Water Mirror by Kai Meyer, and it was decent, but nothing exciting,
My new books are
The Tail of Emily Windsnap  by Liz Kessler
Need by Carrie Jones
Secret of the Sirens by Julia Golding
All look quite fun and interesting, I'm looking forward to getting into them, also, in exciting news Tera Lynn Child's new book Sweet Shadows just came out, and I've got the jibbers to get my hands on that one, and the new Rick Riordan books. I'M SO HAPPY I BELONG TO A LIBRARY AGAIN!!! It's been too long...too long.

Oh, and I won a contest for earrings, which is pretty cool, but I don't have my ears pierced, so I'm going to have to convert them. I'm thinking about getting my ears organically pierced, which is like a mini gauge in my ears made out of wood or glass this way I don't have an allergic reaction and once they heal then I can put normal earrings in. I'm not quite sure yet, I have way too many other things I"m thinking about right now to think about this, but it's mulling in the back of my mind.

I don't know about you, but I enjoy a good TV show or two, what are you looking forward to coming back this fall?  I know my favorite shows are coming back/are back!! Love Fall Premieres.


Love,
Aj

Aloha from Hawaii

Today I read a weather report of the average in Hawaii. It talked about how there is more like a Summer and Winter, with summer ranging anywhere from 78-85 degrees, and winter lows (they seriously wrote the word lows) of 70-75 degrees.  Hilarious. Our sponsor is fantastic, and our hotel is lovely. Our sponsor told us that most people wait about a week or two for housing, so please keep us in your prayers that we can get a house within the week, because I don't really want to live off base, on base is so pretty.  We found a few different cars we like, and so we're testing them tonight and tomorrow. 

I also have a job interview tomorrow at the Salvation Army working at their day camp! Wish me luck! It's a fantastic job, and I really hope I get the job, the place is beautiful, so we'll see! I also made my first friend yesterday, her name is Dawn and she's lovely and hilarious. We're going to go to the Chevelle concert on Saturday. I also discovered the wives club here, and the next meeting is next Tuesday, and it's Hell's Kitchen themed.  Everyone is super nice, and we were able to go to Waikiki and walk the beach.  We went to a 50's themed cafe and I had a pineapple/ham/hamburger thing, it was so delicious. I don't know why, but I've been RAVENOUS lately, it's a tad ridiculous (Me? Crave a hamburger? This has never happened...until today...maybe I'm housing an alien).  I feel really jubilant right now, and a little tired, maybe a nap is in order. 

Life is good, God is great, and Hawaii is fantastic.

Also, I got to have a root beer float :-)

Aloha and Mahalo for the prayers,

Aj

MY HUSBAND COMES HOME TODAY!!

MY HUSBAND COMES HOME TODAY!!!

I'M SO EXCITED!!!!

So excited I think my face is gonna crack.

LOVE,

ONE VERY HAPPY Aj

Side note: We leave for Hawaii Sept. 8th

It's happening!  :-D