DECEMBER

1~QUESADILLA NIGHT @ THE HOUSE

2~J'S GOING AWAY DINNER @ DIXIE GRILL

3~I LOVE LOVE THE OCEAN

4~MY HOMEMADE CHRISTMAS CARD HOLDER

5~THE BLACKBEARD'S SHIP, QUEEN ANNE'S REVENGE

6~COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS TILL 12~31~10

7~REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR DECEMBER 07, 1941

8~SPAGHETTI NIGHT

9~BEACHIN IT UP WITH THE PUPS

COUNTING DOWN DECEMBER DAY BY DAY~

10~ 3 OF MY FAVORITE 4 LITTLE GIRLS, A FRIDAY NIGHT JUST US GIRLS.

11~ GIGI TALKING TO UNCLE GABE ON THE IPAD WHILE WE VISITED TARA @ WORK.

12~CINNAMON SUGAR PECANS ~ MADE FRESH BY ME!!!

13~BAILEY GIRL ALL READY FOR BED.

14~ DINGO THINKS HE HAS TO LAY HERE EVERY NIGHT.

15~ONE OF MY CHRISTMAS GIFTS FROM MY SPOUSE SARAH.

16~TEXAS COW PATTIE COOKIES

17~CHRISTMAS STOCKING FOR MY 4 FAVORITE LITTLE GIRLS.

18~GABE'S MOM ON HER WAY TO HAWAII FOR CHRISTMAS.

19~ITS POURING DOWN RAIN OUTSIDE.

20~WE WENT TO PUNCHBOWL ~ National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific

21~WE VISITED THE USS MISSOURI & THE USS UTAH.

22~OUR BIG ISLAND ADVENTURE

23~BREAKFAST @ CREPES NO KA 'OI

24~LUNCH @ KUA 'AINA SANDWICH in HALEIWA (sandwiches a family tradition for the Gabriel family on Christmas Eve)

25~TAKING A STROLL ON THE BEACH AFTER THE LUAU

26~MY CHRISTMAS CARD HOLDER FULL :) I FILL SO LOVED.

27~AIDAN & ELIZABETH, MY BEST FRIENDS TWO KIDDOS FROM HIGH SCHOOL & STILL IS!!!

28~GUESS WHO GOT A BATH TONIGHT :)~~~~ THESE TWO GUYS.

29~I MADE MY 30 BEFORE 30 LIST

30~SARAH OPENING HER ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY GIFT I HAD MADE FOR HER.

31~The two dishes I made for our New Years Eve get together.

No Bake Haystacks cookies & Tex-Mex Dip

United State of Pop 2010 (Don't Stop the Pop)

This is a really fun remix that has been put together of the top 25 Billboard Hits from 2010. It's currently one of my new favorites!!!!!!! :)
ENJOY!!!!!!!!

And this is why I stayed......

I have never been more happier than I am right now with my life. Ok well other than when my love is home. Making the decision to stay here in Hawaii during the deployment was a hard one. We went back and forth about it SOOOO many times. We knew if I moved back to Texas we could bank alot more than If I stayed, but then did we really wanna go through the hassle of moving and packing up the house and shipping stuff.

I had a good job here in Hawaii, and was making some awesome friends that I knew were going to last a lifetime. Now, why would I want to just give all that up and move to Texas just because Gabe was deploying for 12 months. There was going to be enough change with in our life just with him being gone. After many long nights of talking there was just no real good reason to add to the list of changes. So the decision was made and I was staying in Hawaii, in our house & keeping my job.

Since then I have managed very well on my own. This is the first time I have lived this long on my own before. When we got married I was still living at home since he was deploying a month after. I moved to Hawaii a month before he got home and other than being home while he was at NTC or in the field or at a school Gabe and I have always been here together.

This was going to be a big change and adjustment for me that would take some time to get use to. The first week after he left we had a couple staying here at the house with their daughter before they PCSed so again I really wasn't alone. I think it helped some with him leaving and getting use to living life with a deployed spouse again. After they left things were quiet and sad and very lonely around the house. Although C and I still talked (& still do) daily it wasn't the same with her gone. I felt like I had to start the process all over again of living with out my love and now my best friend.

As time went on my small circle of friends that I had made here on island only grew tighter and stronger. Building a bond like the ones we have made, is something that doesn't come easy but it is defiantly something that I will cherish for the rest of my life. These girls & guys have gotten me through so much the past few years living in the land of Aloha and even more so since Gabe has been gone.

We get together to celebrate each others Birthdays and Wedding Anniversary's, Holidays such as Thanksgiving, Easter and even Halloween. Weekly dinner's at each other's house through out the month makes for some fun evenings. I can't even begin to tell you the amount of shopping and people watching we have done. Laying out on the beach and chit chatting, jumping out of planes and crying on each others shoulders. This is just a slice of the wonderful life that I have the joy of living each and every day. The cherry on top is when my one and only is here with me to join in on the lovely festivities of everything. But even when he's not, I try my best not going to dwell on the crappy part or the sadness of it. Because in the end it's not going to make it any better or help him come home any sooner. I am going to make the most of my time here and with the people that I love to be around. We have been blessed with a circle of friends who are there for us when we need them through the good and bad times.

They don't judge us because we don't have the latest and greatest of everything or even when we aren't as perfect as they are in whatever it maybe. They love us for who we are and except that.

Don't get me wrong I have an amazing group of friends back in Texas whom I love dearly. Being around men and women, people my own age that are going through the same thing as I am or have makes it just a little bit easier. My family is very supportive of our decision to stay in Hawaii. However I'm sure they would have rather me been home closer to them. In the end we had to do what was best for us and our future together and staying in Hawaii while Gabe deployed to Iraq for another tour was just that.

I will never forget my time here and each and every person that has been apart of it in some way. They have all been a foot print in my life and helped make me the person that I am today. I have the best group of friends a girl could ever ask for.

This post is dedicated to my Army Spouse & Best Friend Sarah and my Best Friend Crystal, I love both of you girls so much and couldn't picture our life with out you and your family in it. No matter were the road takes us, weather it be in the army or not, a thousand miles across the ocean, a 24 hour time difference between us the friendship we have I hold close to my heart and will never let it fad away.

50 STATES

Below in ORANGE are the states that I have been to and the ones in BLUE are the ones I have still yet to visit. Lets hope over the next 5 years I'm able to make my mark on all 50 states. The road trip opportunities are endless once we get back on the mainland, oh I can't wait. So it shouldn't be much of a problem at all.

Alabama	Alaska	Arizona	Arkansas
California	Colorado	Connecticut	Delaware
Florida	Georgia	Hawaii	Idaho
Illinois	Indiana	Iowa	Kansas
Kentucky	Louisiana	Maine	Maryland
Massachusetts	Michigan	Minnesota	Mississippi
Missouri	Montana	Nebraska	Nevada
New Hampshire	New Jersey	New Mexico	New York
North Carolina	North Dakota	Ohio	Oklahoma
Oregon	Pennsylvania	Rhode Island	South Carolina
South Dakota	Tennessee	Texas	Utah
Vermont	Virginia	Washington	West Virginia
Wisconsin	Wyoming

30 B4 30

With 2011 just a few days away now, I have been thinking a lot about the future and whats in store. We will be finishing out our 2ND deployment, I'll turn 25 in April and Gabe will turn 28 in May , we will be married for 4 years come November and will make our 2ND big move as a married couple back to the mainland. A lot has changed over the last 4 years being with Gabe and I have grown so much closer to him and we have become so much stronger as a couple.
Our life in the Army living in Hawaii has opened my eyes to a whole new world and shown me things & taken me places I never could of imagined possible. As I look forward and think about the next big milestone in my life......turning that is. I want to make the BEST out of the next 5 years and our future together. My friend J gave me this idea and once I started thinking the ideas were endless. So in NO particular order at all here is a list of things that I want to do before I'm THIRTY!!!!!

1~Visit the major Islands of Hawaii : The Big Island, Kauai, Maui

CHECK~April 4, 2009, May 22, 2010, July 28-31, 2011
2~Take a ride in a SeaPlane
CHECK~March 8, 2011

3~Pay off both our cars & stay debt FREE

4~Have A kid. (ONE)

5~Be in two states at one time

6~Visit all 50 States

7~Visit the United States Capitol ~ Washington DC
CHECK~ DC Trip w/ The Spouse May 29, 2012 

8~Take a road trip across the mainland both w/ Gabe & again w/ a girlfriend
CHECK ~ October 14-15, 2011

9~Visit Mt. Rushmore

10~Go on a cruise w/ Gabe

11~Horse back riding w/ Gabe
CHECK~ March 3, 2011

12~Go to the Pro Bowl in Hawaii

CHECK~ January 30, 2011

13~Get into the best shape of my life

14~Go on a Hot Air balloon ride
CHECK ~ Happy Anniversary to US!

15~Run a Half Marathon

16~Visit New York City for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
CHECK ~ November 20-24, 2012 (still need to blog it)

17~Visit New York City for the New Years Eve Celebration

18~Sky Dive

CHECK~ August 6, 2010

19~Take a Photography class

20~Go Kayaking
CHECK~ March 6, 2011

21~Run a Marathon.

22~Swim w/ Sharks
CHECK~ December 27, 2009

23~Get a Tattoo

CHECK~ August 9, 2008

24~Have 5 year Anniversary photo's taken November 9, 2012 (like engagement photo's)
CHECK~5 Year Pictures!!

25~Learn how to drive Standard

26~Lose 10-20 lbs.

27~Take a Culinary class

28~ Go to Australia together

29~Make out w/ Gabe in the rain

30-Forgive & Fall in Love with Turning 30

31~Finish the list before I turn 30 : Deadline April 21, 2016



I just don't want life to pass me by and I want to make sure WE have fun while We can. I'll keep you updated on my progress and mark the list off as I accomplish things. What are some things on your 30 b4 30 bucket list???

Camouflage And Christmas Lights

I wish so badly he was here with me!!!!!! I love you baby!!! SEE YOU SOONLY!!!!!!!

~The MIL's Visit~

Just a few of the stops and adventures we managed to squeeze in during the week while Gabe's mom was here. I had a fabulous time with her and am so happy that she came to spend Christmas with me. I couldn't ask for better In~Laws than I have, Gabe is so lucky to have such a wonder mom and dad and I fill honored to be apart of their family.

~National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific: Punchbowl~

~Da Kine Bail Bonds~

~It rained at least once every day she was here~

~The Byodo-In Temple~

~'IOLANI PALACE~

~King Kamehameha~
~A lookout near the Marine Base~

Taking in the history of our past.~

~We went to the USS Missouri~

~The USS Arizona Memorial from the top of the USS Missouri~

~Making Keyfulls (a family cookie)~

~My car so so dirty~
~Watching the sunset~

~Another lookout point along kalanianole Highway~
~Bellows Air Force Station~

Christmas Day

Christmas day I woke up to my sweetheart calling & chatted the morning away, while I made breakfast for his mom and I. Oatmeal Pancakes with Walnut Banana Maple Syrup and a side of Bacon. The same breakfast that he made for us last year on Christmas morning.

Still chatting away, I quickly finished eating and doing the dishes and then it was time to open gifts. Gabe & I agreed not to do gifts until he came home for R&R however we both caved in and got each other a little something to have on Christmas morning. His gift was the first one I opened and much to my surprise it was a book on Muscle Cars.

He's such a goof but we do both love our cars!!!! I loved it so much and cant wait till he gets home so we can continue our Christmas together. I sent him a box of his favorite goodies along with some pictures that I had taken and a stocking filled with my love.

I finished opening the rest of our gifts both from my mom and the Gabriel family. It was a nice quiet morning a bit different than last year but we made it work and I will continue to. I was in such a funk all morning that I didn't want to do a thing but lay in bed, but knowing how much he loves me pushed me to get up and make it through the day. It's ruff being away from him and I hate it more than ever.

My mom must know how much I love pictures and how proud I am of my last name and who I'm married to. She made this for Gabe & I and I just love it so much. I have to fine the perfect frame for it so all my lovely friends can see!!!!!!! THANK YOU MOMMA!!!!!


This is the bag I happened to mention to Cathy when we were at the PX that I was going to get before we PCS'ed. She was so sneaky in getting it for us, now we just have to get one more. You can bet with this I will be packing all my clothes and MORE to take with me on the plane.


The afternoon part of our day was spent cruising around the island taking in the beauty of it all. Down to Hawaii Kai and around Kaneohe and a stop off at Bellows Air Force Station. We also managed to squeeze in a pit stop at the Pali lookout, some days like today I still can't believe I've been given the opportunity to live in such a beautiful place. I enjoy getting out and exploring the Land of Aloha so much, something about it just puts a smile on my face and warms my heart.

~Scenic lookout along kalanianole Highway~

~Halona Blowhole~
~looking towards Kaneohe~

After our journey around the island we ventured back home to freshen up for our night out. We had reservations at the Star Light Luau downtown at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. I had never been to this one before so I was really excited, even more so that I didn't have to cook. Don't get me wrong I love to & especially on holidays but it was different this year with Gabe being gone. So I decided I would do something new and a luau was just that. On the roof top of one of the towers was were the Luau took place just beneath the stars of Waikiki. Once we indulged in a feast of unforgettable tropical flavors created with traditional island ingredients the show began. With live music, drums and the drama of traditional Hawaiian, Tahitian and Samoan dance we were taken back to the heritage of the Pacific Islands. It truly was a spectacular show, it shows you how much the men and woman of the islands try to carry on the traditions of their ancestors.







I had a wonderful evening definetly one I wont forget. It may have not been the best Christmas I've ever had but its up there on the top 5 list. I may not have been able to spend it with the one I love but I'm thankful that his mom was so willing to come all the way out to be with me over the Holidays. :) I have been so blessed with everything I have in my life, and could never ask for anything more than. Well other than having my hubby home with me right now that is.

BUT IN DUE TIME, NOT MUCH LONGER NOW. :)