Life Get's in the Way

Sometimes life gets busy and we I forget to stop and smell the roses or flowers in my case. It seems like I've always got something going on, some were to be or something to do. But it never seems overly exciting or fancy. Non the less, I've got a busy life and I suppose that's a good thing right. So here's a little tidbit of what I've been up to over the last two weeks. 

If you follow me on Instagram you've seen most of these before I'm sure. I'm going away for the weekend and my goal before I leave was to get caught up with everything, which includes this here blog of mine. Let's just say that didn't happen. I still have a weekend adventure to recap from two weeks ago. Hello what has gotten in to me. I guess you could say that every free minute I have is spent with the hubbs when he is home from work. Remember we picked up a new cycle about 2 1/2 weeks ago so things have been a little crazy. 

I made a killer Pasta Salad a couple weeks ago for dinner. We ended up eating on it for 3 days before it was all gone. Def. a favorite meal for us. 

Everyone loves Chocolate Chip Cookies. I made about 5 dozen last Sunday night. We each took some to work to let everyone enjoy. :) Because we all know we don't need to keep them all in our house. 

Running, Running, Running and more Running. I tell you It's such a stress reliever. I feel like a totally different person after my runs. No matter how good or bad of a day I've had, It's def. the best way to clear my head. 

Did you know that June 5th was National Running day......me either till I saw it posted all over FB. 

With it being National Running day on the 5th, that mint the registration fee for the Full Marathon I was wanting to do was discounted by $20. Not knowing if there would be a chance of it getting any lower than that I went ahead and bit the bullet as they call it and signed up. So it's official, I'll be running my first Full Marathon in Savannah, GA on my 6th Wedding Anniversary. No fingers crossed everything goes good and the hubbs will be off work and there to support me along the way. (even if he can't I know he'll be supporting me from home)

I'm not very good when it comes to planting, growing flowers and keeping them alive. Give me a Ivy and that's a different story. However we've had some really pretty flowers bloom from our seeds we planted a few weeks back.

I finally tested out my new pot that I got with my amazon gift card my brother got me for my birthday almost two months ago now. I say on the giftcard forever because I wasn't sure what I wanted to get and then when I decided and finally made the purchase, it took me a good couple weeks to finally use it. I made Hamburger Stew in it for the first time, it was actually really really good and super easy to make. Will def. be a keeper recipe, it would be great for during the cold winter months. I love the pot it makes a great addition to our cookware collection. 

With all the rain we've been having here lately the pups have been stuck in side a good bit. I feel bad for them to because they have so much energy to run out. I try to take them to the dog park as much as possible or at least for a walk when I get home from work. With our busy lives here lately they've been super lazy. Silly puppies and their tongues. :) 

 Now that It's official and I've signed up for my first Full Marathon I've been stepping up my gym classes / workouts. I'm really trying to work on my Strength and build up my Cardio as well. I'm still working at it and I think with anything it will take time to fully be able to do all of the exercises properly. Still I feel great afterwards so that's a good thing right. 

I hope you are all having a fabulous week and that you've got wonderful weekend plans. Thanks for hanging around and sticking with me. You ladies (and gents) are absolutely awesome!!!!! 

Puppy Park on Mother's Day

I may not be a momma to any two legged babies but I a momma to two four legged fur babies. They warm my heart and always seem to make me smile. Sure they annoy the nonsense out of my sometimes but I wouldn't change them for the world. We've been through so much together in the past 4 years. It's just been the 3 of us over the last month and we've had some extra bonding time. We've gone on lots of walks and runs together like we always do when daddy's home. We've spend a lot of time at the Dog Park (I wont take them in the wooded trail area by myself like we do when the hubbs is home) letting them run some of their energy out. I love that we have a dog park on post and its only half a mile from our house. Not only do they get a good walk in up there but then they can run around free and play. We've been pretty lucky here lately and there really hasn't been anyone there. I say luck because Bailey is kinda crazy with dogs she doesn't know when in a confined area. 

I couldn't think of a better way to take advantage of this beautiful day then a trip to the puppy park. 

Sweet Bailey Girl taking a break in the shade, its only 9am and its already pretty warm out. 

They love playing on the ramp, its so fun to watch them run up and down because they get so excited.

(the below left pic. shows B's double ridgeback hair line so well, I love it) 

Bailey hasn't quite figured out the tunnel yet but Dingo just jumps right in. 

They love the dog park and we had so much fun running around playing this morning. We spent over a hour there. Now I have two pooped puppies and this momma is relaxing for a bit before I go get some fresh local Strawberries. Yum :) We're officially on count down mode till daddy / hubbs comes home and I can't wait. 

Happy Mother's Day to all you Momma's & Momma's to be out there!!!!! 

Bark Park

After my morning run my plan was to come home and do absolutely nothing for the rest of the day. (minus a quick trip to the commissary when they opened at 11am) 

The hubs picked up a new set of SIT (soldiers in training).....fresh meat = a new cycle. 

Hello Red Phase = long hours, going to bed alone, tired husband, cranky husband bc of stupid PVT's. late dinners, weekends alone at home..... really I could go on and on. But I'll spare you. 

I figured I'd treat the pups to a trip to the Dog Park before embarking on my lazy afternoon. 

I re-bundled up because it was super chilly out and the park is about half a mile from our home. 

We headed out the door and they were super excited. The minute we pull their leashes from the closet they know something is up and they are going some were. They go nuts, so we better be ready to walk out the door because they will knock you down. 

We spent about a hour a the dog park hanging out. It was a bit chilly but I managed, they were having a great time running around playing. We had the whole place to ourselves so I just let them hang out and play for a while. They definitely love being outside no matter how cold or hot it is, I think its the Hawaiian in them. 

 After a long run and a fun filled morning with the crazy puppies at the park, we are enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon at home. Chilly weather and cloudy sky's makes for a perfect couch day and some HGTV & Food Network. 

Crazy Pooches

DAY 43

Out on a new adventure

We decided to take the pups out for a little adventure this morning. All of the dog parks here you have to pay a yearly membership for and we have not got around to doing it yet. Today we took them out to Sesquicentennial State Park for a nice walk around the lake. I was a bit nervous because there are tons of geese near the lake and I knew Bailey would just go nuts. They were both super excited to be out and about in a new area. They were sniffing around like crazy every square inch that they could get their noses on. Dingo even went down near the lake and stepped in with out hesitation. It seems a bit murky so we didn't let him swim our anything. Even there at the open area around the park you can't take your dogs off their leashes which drives me nuts. There is a dog park there that is pretty big and has tons of trees so I'm hoping that we are able to get in with the park ranger soon to get our permit so we can take then and let them run around. As always we do have our back up place on post, which reminds me we took them to a new area this past weekend were we took them off their leashes. They really seemed to liked it we went down a long dirt road that was near the graduation field. There was deer tracks every were along the road and both of them ventured around trying to sniff out the deers.

Taking A Walk ......

DAY 31

.....On the wild side of things.

A day out exploring a new park is the way we ended up spending our Sunday. Sesquicentennial State Park is a National park here in Columbia, don't even ask me how to pronounce the name of it because I have no clue we just call it the S park. With a 3 mile trail that runs around the 30 acre lake and another 5 mile bike trail as well as many smaller trails that run through the forest area you can't get board at Sesquicentennial Park maybe lost lol. During the summer months part of the lake is roped off for swimming as well you can rent paddle boats to do a bit of exploring around the lake. The paddle boat sounds fun but I'm not so sure about swimming in the lake it doesn't look so clean.

We had fun following the arrows leading us to the different openings to the lake area, crossing 4 different bridges and passing a few creepy creatures along the way. It would be a great place to take the dogs and let them run around and explore the only crappy part about it is they have to stay on their leash. They have a dog park inside the park as well but the other crappy part about that is you have to pay for a yearly membership to take your dogs there. (same goes for the dog parks out side the S park, you have to pay a yearly membership, granite its not much but still seems a bit strange if you ask me)

I was doing some looking on line when we got home this afternoon and there is a 5K race that runs through Sesquicentennial Park in the spring and I think I might look into running that one.

All in all it was a great day and we took loads of pictures and made some great memories together. :)

What a Weekend ;)

Time to SLOOOOW down after a go go go weekend. We had allot planned to go this weekend and everything was accomplished and then some. (ITS A LONG ONE)
It started off coming home from work on Friday to Gabe just finishing up buffing and waxing his truck. Man it looks like a beauty now. Then off to dinner we went. Meeting up with Annie & Allen at California Pizza Kitchen for some yummy grub. Dinner was great filled with loads of laughter & conversation. Home we headed after chatting for a bit, for a relaxing evening together at the house.
Saturday morning we were able to sleep in a bit, thanks to Gabe letting the pups. come up stairs after their 6am wake up alarm went off.
We had a few places to run to that morning to get ready for our BBQ that evening and then back home to clean!!! While I tackled the inside, (I like to clean it anyhow bc then I know its done good & the way I want it) Gabe went after my car. He washed the whole thing in & out buffed & waxed it as well. Now neither one of our cars have water spots YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!
I was able to prepared food for the evening, baked a birthday cake, cut up all the veggies for burgers and salad in the mist of cleaning as well as all the laundry. We both finish just before 5pm. Everyone was suppose to start arriving in half a hour. We quickly shower and put the finishing touches on the cake just in time. WOW, just enough time for Gabe to turn off the radio and sit down for a quick game on the PS3. But not long after that, the party began :)
There was lots of chit chat, laughter and joking around w/ some of the awesomest people here on Island. We had some GREAT burgers and dogs thanks to my grill master SGT. Gabriel and everyone just loved my Homemade Black Bean Texican Salad and our Homemade Caramel Apple Crisp Dessert .
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Thankfully with the 4 kiddos all UNDER TWO YEARS OLD & 2 puppies (ours), four grown (ok kinda) men nothing got broke. YAY!!!!! I was so happy. There was only one party mishap were a beer landed on the floor but I was up stairs at the time & it was cleaned up before I got back down other wise someone would of got a ear full. Shortly after 11pm everyone parted their ways and headed home. We finished cleaning up and off to bed we went. It was a LONG BUSY DAY!!! But so much fun.


Sunday morning was no different the dogs were up around 6:30am and ready to go. We had plans to be at the doggie park in Mililani at 9am. They were having a Great Dane meet & we figured we would go check them out and see what new we could learn about the Dane family. As well as the last time we went the puppies just had a FREAKIN BLAST running in the open fields and playing with the other dogs. I think we are going to turn it in to our Sunday routine. (Taking them to the dog park that is and then hit up the driving range for a bit.)
We enjoyed getting to see the different sizes of Danes and how they interact with other dogs of all sizes. I have been stuck on wanting a BullMasstif FOREVER now and I think Gabe has finally gotten me out of that rut. I can't wait to get back to the mainland so we can finally get a house with a bigger yard. (our house & yard here is much to small for a dog of such large size.)

After about a hour of our puppies running crazy we headed home to drop them off and up to the ACC it was.
(Last Thursday I slipped and fell at work having to go to the Dr. to have my wrist checked out because my Assistant Director was flipping out that something was wrong with it and me knowing good and well it was just alittle sore I went just to please her. (having to take all this paper work to the DR. to have them fill out for work, so work could document what was wrong with me "HELLO NOTHING")While there on Thursday they did x-ray's & checked it all out, I ended up getting a brace for my wrist which I wore the rest of the day and to work on Friday. Not only did I get a brace but I got orders from the Dr. "NO LIFTING FOR 10-14 DAYS & LIGHT WORK, also I was suppose to keep this brace thing on for the 14 days as well" are you freaking kidding me. "I'M FINE" ugh. So since this happened I was moved out of the class that I just love working in put into Preschool, which don't get me wrong I love, I just can' stand some of the teachers that work back in that class. After talking to my Director Thursday evening she told me that if my wrist was fine and I wanted to go back to the Dr. and have them give me a note saying "I could return to normal work duties I could". So I didn't have to stay out of my class for 2 weeks, Thank freakin goodness.)

So Hints the reason for the trip to the ACC Sunday after the Dog Park visit. All went well, I was in & out with in about a matter of 30 minutes with a note in hand stating I was all & well (which I knew all along) & could return to normal work duties with NO LIMITATIONS!!!! YEAH!!!! This called for some much celebration, a trip to the 24 hour shoppette. We grabbed a drink, candy bar AND HANNAH MONTANA THE MOVIE to rent. I had been wanting to see it forever now but Gabe was not to hip on the idea. So perfect time. He had a bit of work to do & so I though while he sat & worked on his counseling packets I would watch the movie.
I though it was such a great movie so cute & sweet. He would never admit to it but at times I looked over & saw him watching it as well. The rest of the afternoon included us relaxing and being lazy on the couch. Gabers ended up cooking his famous Chicken Parmesan for dinner, even did the dishes after. We watched Drop Dead Diva & Army Wives heading to bed shortly after. We were totally exhausted from our FANTASTIC weekend.
I can't wait for the work week to come & go so we can do it all over again next weekend. Here's to many more FANTASTIC weekends to come in the future of our life in Hawaii.

Dog Park "ruff ruff"

DINGO HAVING A BLAST RUNNING AROUND THE DOG PARK.


GABERS & BAILEY GIRL....MY TWO SWEETIES :)

SHE IS SUCH A HORSE OF A DOG, BUT I LOVE HER!

AFTERNOON AT THE DOG PARK W/ THE PUPS.

**BAILEY GIRL IS GETTING SO STINKIN BIG**

DINGO....JUST LOVED THE WIDE OPEN SPACES TO RUN AND PLAY.

The pups. had a great time at the Dog Park today and surprising they did so much better than we thought they would do. Which we were every happy and relieved about. I can't wait to take them back again so they can run and play. It was just what they needed. A large open area to let all their crazyness out.
Next step is the beach, I'm really looking forward to taking them to the beach and seeing how that goes. Hoping as good as today but we will see.