LALALA...SINGING IN THE RAIN, JUST SINGING IN THE RAINNNNN

or is it dancing?? crud...now I cant remember how it goes...well, its one of those two...dancing singing...whatever...its RAINING :)

I LOVE the rain!! Of course its not such a great thing for sev, when he is scheduled to fly today...yikes!! Oh well, he needs practice in all types of weather. After today he has a schedule filled up with people requesting his services, yipeeeee...he NEEDS to rack up some hours behind the...uh....1000000 buttons, knobs and handlebar looking driving instrument thingy, lol...whatever. He is loving it and I'm happy he is back doing what really makes him glow!

Soooo Sev and I could not decide what we wanted for Christmas. Seeing as how we are paying rent (that is MORE than our house payment) AND 2 sets of utilities and 2 car payments and our mortgage and my school loans...WE BE PO!!! So we decided on a firm amount of 100 spent on each of us!!! But what in the world did we want?? Winter clothes are out of the question...Sure I'm a girl and I love the sparkly stuff, but really...how many times do you see me wearing anything besides my wedding ring set?? I don't need anything and he only asked for a 20 dollar flight book...so what was there?? So one evening as we sat pondering the question...we decided we wanted something to share together we decided on....drum role...a Wii :) :) :)
Now...for those of you not familiar with the gaming world...or for the "most popular christmas item" this year....its a nintendo :) and its veryyyyyy hard to come by right now as its highly coveted by many this christmas.
So...we began our hunt. I finally located a ToysRUs that said they would be receiving some but couldnt place any on hold...they told me the day they would get them in and the time they opened...7am. So last weekend, Sev and I set our alarm...woke up and arrived at ToysRus at 6am...and STOOD IN LINE!!! yikes!! One hour and two cups of starbucks later we were in the door and running to the electronics department!!! and now...we are the proud parents of a Wii :) Now you cant have a game system without games...duh....so we went over our christmas budget by about 100 bucks and purchased a game (the console itself was 250 and the game was 50) we decided it was also part of Grandmas christmas gift to us :) Well, of course we couldnt wait until Christmas to open up and play our newly purchased toy...so we rushed home and soon became Wii addicts, lol. Its soooo much fun!!! For those of you still wondering what in the heck a Wii is...picture this....its like Old School Nintendo...but your controllers are wireless and you interact with the games by moving...thats right, so lets take bowling for example (sevs favorite game) you hold the controller and a bowling lane pops up on screen you stand and move your hand (with the controller) like you would if you were bowling...and a ball appears on screen and ta da you have a strike....or a gutter ball (usually what I get, lol). It's a blast and we're really enjoying spending the evenings challenging each other to a game of Wii. Yesterday I had a house full of boys playing Bowling Wii in my living room...it was hilarious watching them get so competitive over a simple game!! Fun Times. So yeah...some might say we ruined our Christmas gifts by getting it early..but who cares, its hard to feel the christmas spirit in 85 degree weather anyway!

Well...the boy just showed up...guess the weather was wayyyy to bad for flying without instruments so he had to reschedule, looks like its running errands for the rest of the day and then gym time!!!

Mwah

The couch has been taken over...

by sevy napping...so I'm sitting on the living room floor with a few minutes to spare :)

Not much is new. Sev started back to work monday :( While sad...and HARD to wake up at 5am...he has been getting off early, so it isnt all that bad. We're excited about his ETS ordrers being prepared. I can't WAIT until we have those papers in our hands and the date of his departure from THE ARMY!! Yipeeeee.

The 13th of December is our Army Ball. We couldnt decide if we wanted to go...but we decided it will be our last one and it would be nice to get dressed up together and hang out with our friends in downtown Waikiki for a night. So I'm shoe shopping :)
Our good friend JD just got his date to leave the army...he was deployed to Iraq the first time Sev was however his deployment was cut short when his Humvee flipped over and landed on top of him. He tried to finish his time out in the Army but his back is really messed up and so ultimately he was forced to get Medically discharged...he completed a bunch of paperwork and ended up getting the military to "retire" him from the Army instead of discharging him...therefore for the rest of his life he gets medical insurance and monthly check of 1200.00. His retirement party is Saturday, lol...24 years old and retired. He will be returning to Oregon to move into his newly purchased house with his wife and son...sev and I are planning on staying with them a few days before we head to MT. and then flying home for good.

Well....the boy just woke up.........gotta run!!!
Happy Tuesday :)

Black Friday...

Why exactly is it called " Black Friday"...I'm sure there is a good reason, but I've never heard the reason why.

Our Thanksgiving was nice. We left our house around 12pm and made our way through holiday traffic to the caldera's house. Sev and I brought pineapple casserole, rolls and a pie. The house was packed with food!! I'm thankful that for every year of my life someone else has cooked the turkey...b/c I have NO clue how you would even begin that process!!

It was nice being around friends...we missed our family, but having friends helped to make the holidays feel festive. After lunch/dinner we headed outside for a friendly game of football...I say friendly even though my husband managed to knock me flying to the ground resulting in nice grass stains on both my knees. We laughed and sweated and enjoyed the nice weather together :) After (coughmyteamwoncough) we went inside for desserts and a game of scatagories...sev and I decided to team up...I think he just wanted to win for a change.....and we won every single round we played. Around 9pm we decided to head home and leave our friends to continue playing and allow someone else to win :)

I really missed my family and our traditional thanksgiving meal at grandmas...but I must admit that I enjoy sharing the holiday in a different way occasionally.

Today was the Hawaii vs. Boise game...HU won!!! Sev and I watched the game here at home via ESPN b/c by the time we decided to look at tickets they were out the roof!!! We used my 12x zoom to look at the game from the lani but we couldnt see actual plays, so we decided to go back to the tv for the game and during half time we sat on the lani and watched the fireworks :)

I got to talk to my daddy for a bit today...with the time difference and a weird schedule I dont get to talk to family much, but today we got to chat for a bit and that was nice...dad and I are alot alike and sometimes I like that and sometimes we argue because of it...either way I'm glad I got my dads way of thinking!! Anyways...because of that I started thinking about how much I am just like my parents!!!! I sound JUST LIKE my mom!! Half the time I say stuff to severyn and he SWEARS I made up the words and I have to call mom to varify b/c honestly I dont know if they are made up or not...b/c shes the one that always said them while I was growing up. I also have my moms hands...it scares me sometimes when I'm doing dishes or folding laundry I think...my word these are my moms hands!!! I just hope I have her metabolism...lol...unfortunalty I think chris got that. I also have my moms hard headedness and stubborness...and she got that from my grandma........at least I know what I have to look forward to...........I told sev today that I would understand if he ran far far away once I hid my mid-life crisis!! hehehe!!
But really....genes are amazing, I guess its one neat thing about having a little rugrat.

Oh...I've decided to go back to school, I've been thinking about it for some time now and I've decided I really miss learning!! I miss my lecture classes...so once we get back to SC and settled in I'm going to start looking into going back for my masters.

Well...sev and I hit the gym and we're hitting the couch for the night :)


I'm late but I wouldnt be Lindsey if I werent so,:

HAPPY THANKSGIVING AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY CUZ!!!!!!

Quick Update

Our internet has been acting up lately...so finally today Sev took our equipment back to time warner and got all new gadgets...and ta da it Works!!! For now...we'll keep our fingers crossed.

soooo we've really just been spending alot of time together...its great having him home I STILL cant get over the fact that he's home FOR GOOD!! I find myself waking up in the middle of the night some nights and looking at him and pinching myself to make sure I'm not dreaming....b/c not that long ago it was just a dream.
Yesterday we had a BLAST with friends. We went wake boarding!!
I just recently learned how to wake board this past summer. My good friend Kyle Christopher and his brother purchased a ski boat and so this past summer found me on Lake Wylie with the boys learning to wake board...almost every weekend I would leave right after work and head to Rock Hill...practice makes perfect!!
So when one of sevs friends asked if we wanted to wake board I was excited to show off my new found talent...hehe.
So yesterday we got up around 8am grabbed Rickey and Mosher from the walmart parking lot where we met and headed to Kaneohe Bay to meet up with the captain of the boat, Jason. We were out on the water alllllllll day yesterday....Jason and I ended up being the only two that could get up on the board...so he and I were wake boarded out by the end of the day....the other two boys were able to ski...and bless sevs heart as hard as he tried he couldnt get up on anything, we decided it was because he was left handed and probably left footed....or.....thats the excuse we gave him anyways.
This morning I woke up and could literally NOT MOVE...every single muscle in my body ached....I felt like a truck had run me over...backed up and run over me AGAIN....so I've been laying around allllllllll day moaning and whining.....I did get up to make sevy lunch and dinner...but thats it.....curled up on the sofa with a book pretty much made my day.
We really did have fun though...we saw sea turtles and shark!! Hammer heads to be exact, they were actually jumping out of the water while we were skiing...I was a bit freaked out at first, but from everything I've read and heard...hammerheads have small mouths and rarely attack and if they do its not bad. I have to admit that falling in salt water compared to lake water...sucks.....i think i was spitting salt water all night last night!!

Oh, so sev is flying again :) He is soooo happy. He is actually sitting on the sofa now reading up on his flight books. I'm happy for him.
This weekend sev is scheduled to fly and then we're headed back to the bay to kayak...then its back to work for sev :( I'm sad...but I know that he wont be working much until christmas and then after christmas we'll be getting ready to go BACK TO SC, yipeeeeee!!!!! We're both praying for SNOW!!!!!!

Last week we heard the sad news about the death of one of the soldiers that was deployed with Sev. He was home on leave and was showing his wife and friends gun safety....but forgot himself to clear the chamber of the gun before he put it to his neck and pulled the trigger. Its sad and heartbreaking.....and ironic.
I know his wife...she and I had a bit of a rocky start but I know she adored her husband and I can only imagine her heartache...keep her in your prayers (Maureen).

Life is short...so have fun :)
Until next time ALOHA.


ps. I'll post pictures of the boat activities later, whenever the guys email me their pics :)

More Maui

Okay, so I'm still trying to get the hang of this so I'll go ahead and apologize for the pictures being sideways, in random order and before the actual posting of our Maui vaca. Other than that, enjoy :)


Looking out over the Mountain tops we Ziplined across, yes little suzy has a flower on her helmet:
Sevy and his mom:

The tree we came across mid hike on our way up to the waterfall past the town of Hana:

One of the waterfalls we saw on our hike:
The awesome little path carved out between the bamboo: (the entire hike was not a neat little wooden path, it was more roots, rocks and mud...but the path was very nice!!)
The waterfall at the end of the hike:
Sev giving that gorgeous smile at the bottom of the waterfall (he took his shirt off b/c it started raining a bit on the hike and he got soaked...unlike me who had a water resistant jacket :) ):


The birdies in Hana sevy shared his lunch with (they actually landed and ate out of his hand!!):

The town of Hana...and yes, thats all there is to it!!:
A Mongoose!!:
One of the pools at the seven pools national park:
Sevy and another waterfall on our hike:


Sevy and his mom chillin in a tree branch in Lahiana:

God is Good:
Love and Laughter, all we need:
Black sand beach:
Sevy standing on black sand beach:




One of the more gentle curves on the road to hana:

One of the stops we made we stopped and hiked to an old hawaiian canal, they used this to transfer water to the bottom of the mountain (sev and I actually tubed down one of these in Kauai):
Sev and his dad on the hike we took at the bottom of the national park for Haleakala crater:
I took this picture because I never did figure out what was to the right, LOL:
The road we hiked to get 10,000ft above sea level:

Okay, so I have a few minutes...so I thought I would write a bit more about our Maui trip :) Just to share a bit and get it recorded for my own memory.

So we caught a ride to the airport with Jd monday morning around 11:30. We landed in Maui a little after 12pm. Picked up our small SUV rental and headed to Lahaina, the oldest town on Maui. It was sooo adorable...probably my favorite town I've been to on any of the islands. We ate at a local restaurant, BJ's. We then made our way to the condo we would be staying at. It was located on the number one spot to snorkel in Maui, the cove was just amazing...sea turtles by the dozens. We unpacked our bags and settled in with a game of hearts. The next morning we woke up and headed to Mt. Haleakala (I already posted pics for that hike). It was chilly so we actually got to put on a jacket!! yipee!!

It was a neat hike to the top and we were excited when the clouds began to lift and we were able to see the entire island for our position...along with neighboring islands. We ate at a little restaurant on the way up...it was kind of off the beaten path and we were not expecting much...just a quick bite to eat...boy were we surprised when the food was not only awesome but the views from the lani were amazing!!!

On our drive down the mountain we stopped at a state park and took another small hike...saw some neat trees and flowers and I think I even caught a glimpse of a nene bird(one of Hawaii's endangered birds,looks like a goose to me!!).

On the way back we stopped in kihei, a small town on the southern part of Maui. We stopped in at a local bar, Lu Lu's and ate oysters and shrimp for before dinner snacks :) yummy!!

We came back to the condo and I fell asleep reading.

The next morning we decided to make the long awaited drive on the road to Hana.....honestly I was soooo not looking forward to that!!! I loaded up on some motion sickness medicine and we headed out. We stopped in Pa'ia (the last town before the road to hana begins) we grabbed some sandwiches at the local deli and took off down the road.

I managed to snap some shots between bites of one AWESOME smoked salmon sub!! We stopped at a few waterfalls and a few hiking trials...so of course I had to take a few more pictures there!! Even snapped a shot of a local rooster :)

We were 15 min from the town of Hana when the meds hit me and I passed out!! Yep...thats right...I fell asleep on the road to Hana...hehehe(dont worry though, I saw most of the road and the 15min i missed i saw on the way back down). I woke up when we stopped at a black sand beach...pretty neat!! We messed around there for a bit and then headed on in to Hana.

Now...this road to Hana...it takes no less, mostly a bit more than 2hrs to make it from the bottom to the top WITHOUT stopping...we stopped...so by the time we got to Hana we were hungry again...we grabbed a Hawaiian Huli Huli Chicken plate from a lunch wagon and sat down to feast with the ocean for company. Some local birds decided to join us and sev had no problem sharing his meal.

We drove around Hana for a bit (if youre familiar with Hana you know that didnt take up much time!!) and then headed on past Hana to a national state park to view the "seven pools"...basically just seven little pools of water collected between rocks at the bottom of a waterfall...beautiful all the same!! People were swimming and jumping from the rocks but it was getting late and sevs parents had decided against seeing the pools for themselves and started ahead of us on a 4 mile hike up to another waterfall....so sev and I took off after them (about 30min behind). I can honestly say that it was one of the most beautiful hikes I have EVER been on...and thanks to my Padre I've been on alot. Sev and I were astounded by all the different trees and floral. We grabbed some guava from one of the trees and munched on it while hiking. We started the hike around 4:30pm and around 5:30, on their way back down, we met up with sevs parents. We were 2 tenths of a mile away from the top so sev and I told them to go on down the Mt and we would continue the hike up and then meet them at the car. Now...I was also taught by my father to never enter a trail head if you werent going to make it out before sundown UNLESS you had proper equipment, he would be proud to know that I remembered his wise words and had sevy pack a head light!!....Which he left in the car at the bottom of the trail....sorry dad!!

I can not even begin to describe how awesome this trail was!! we walked through about a mile of nothing but bamboo, it had to be 20 feet tall and sooo thick!!We could not see but a glimpse of sky and it was dark before we knew it!! I silently cursed sev while climbing over tree roots I couldn't even see!! I also swore not to let my dad know how dingy I was for 1)marrying an amateur hiker and 2) continuing with the hike even though it was past dark thirty.

I will admit...it was well worth the hike!!! The waterfall at the end was also probably one of the most gorgeous waterfalls I've seen!!! Lucky for us the bamboo opened up right before the trail ended and there was just enough light left for a great view!!...Then it was back into the dark and back down the trail. Sevs dad met us in a clearing when we were almost to the bottom of the trail...he met us under the neatest tree...I also snapped some pictures of it...sorry, they turned out a bit dark.

We met Sue at the bottom of the trail and we all four began the walk back to the car...I happened to glance to the right of us as we were walking and noticed a nice little field with cows grazing...pretty, kind of reminded me of 1025 days (House in Landrum). I thought nothing of it...b/c like I said, It reminded me of the cow pastures I grew up beside and the cows I grew up looking at every day...but these were no landrum cows...oh no....these were HAWAIIAN cows...and like there human locals, they apparently dont like white man on their land, lol....I looked up again just in time to see a cow running STRAIGHT FOR US!!! I screamed and grabbed sue (we were a few strides behind the boys) and we both took of running for the men. Sorry, I didnt capture a picture of this...I didnt really think about it at the time. I'm not sure what stopped the cow but we ran across the paved road and it stopped short of crossing (although there was no fence...I guess it didnt want to put its manicured hooves on the rough pavement). Lucky for us.

So it was dark...and we were at the top of the road to Hana....now...this road, it has about 107893237u3283728 binds in the road...not nice little curvy turns...no no, straight hairpin turns!! (right moo??) So I forgot to mention that we had reservations for Mama's Fish House (a Highly recommended restaurant) at 8pm down at the bottom of the road...Dave's driving makes me sick on a straight road...soooooo.....my solution....I went back to sleep, hehe. The trip up I kept saying how I wanted a shirt that said "I survived the road to hana"....when the trip was complete...dave said i deserved a shirt that said "I slept the road to hana"...whatever, I road the road, I saw the road, I slept the road...I deserve something!!

Mama's Fish House was super yummy!! It's one of those restaurants famous people eat at once or twice, sign a copy of their head shot, its hung on the wall and the menu prices go up 20 bucks....but it was yummy, I must admit.

The following morning we had reservations to partake in my FAVORITE island activity....ZIP LINING, oh yes...I LOVE this sport!! I've also decided it would the IDEAL place for my brother to work!! The guides are so laid back and funny...we had a blast. We even saw some wild boar on the last line down. We were in a group of 8 and one of the other ladies was a maui local who worked at a restaurant near our condo, we decided to try it out afterwords and we're glad we did, it was great too!!

The next day was our last day and we decided to end it where we started it...in Lahaina.

So that pretty much sums up our Maui trip...lovely, relaxing and adventurous :)

Okay...I'm done.

A MUST SEE!!!

Lions for Lambs


We just got back from seeing this movie and I LOVED it!! Sev wasn't all that impressed. He said it was okay but I actually cried...and I don't cry for ANY movies (right mom?? hehe). I dont know how to put into words exactly why I liked this movie...and I'm sure some people will think its a bit bland...but man, it left me thinking. I will totally buy this movie when it comes out on DVD. If you do get a chance to view this movie...let me know what you think, k?!
I think it addressed so many issues and touched a bit on both sides of the fence.

Dad and I have had the "should we be at war or not" conversation/debate a few times...and we've addressed lots of issues that the characters bring up in the movie.

Blah...chores....I'll write more later.

Wowie Maui

So Sevs parents left Sunday evening. We had a nice little visit and vaca on Maui.

I tend to always be the one behind the camera...therefore there are hardly any pictures of me (although Sue has some on her camera). Here are just a few pictures I snapped this past week...I'll share more later, but this turn thing takes forever to download pics!!

On our first full day in Maui we traveled to the SE side of the island and hiked Mt. Halekala, it's the highest point on Maui, 10,000 feet above sea level. It was rather cloudy when we first started out...so the pictures appear a bit blurry...but it was so neat!! It was actually a bit hard breathing while on this hike...the air was so thin!! It began to clear as we made the hike down and wow God is creative a master artist!!


Sevy stopped to pick me flowers on the way :) He's a sweetie!!:

Here Sev and his dad stand at the top of the mtn. if you look closely behind the clouds you can actually see molokai and lani:
We're descending down now and the clouds are lifting!! Look at those mountain tops!!:
Pretty pretty flower:
This was actually taken on Oahu...we took a small hike up the Pali Hwy lookout...I have no idea what sev is doing!!:

"Remember the Nows, Think often of the Whens, But don't get carried away in the Could Have Beens."

~Lindsey~

So I wrote that a few years back...in some creative writing class at SMC. It's the only "poem" I remember, maybe because I think alot about what it means to me. I love my memory...its a Gift from God. I love thinking about the fun, funny and memoriable things in my past. Everything that happened to me made me who I am today, and its so neat to see the puzzle (my life) fit itself together and create what I've turned out to be (not yet complete).

Its neat knowing that God has a plan for me...and although I choose what path I take, he already knows what I'm going to choose and he already knows the outcome and the reason behind it...makes me sorta feel safe.

okay....I've got to run...we're off to see a movie and sev is fussing that we're going to be late!!!

more pictures later :)

Tested and Tired but Thankful

Well, the in-laws are here. They arrived around 9pm Friday night. I had a few finger foods for munching when we got back from picking them up. Thanks to mom we had a yummy fruit dip and fresh dole pineapple :) I made some baby quiche, veggie tray, artichoke and spinach dip and some pita. We sat up for a bit chit chatting and then went to bed.
Sev and I woke up Saturday morning to the aroma of coffee. Since their time is still off they beat us getting up and had started a pot of Kona Coffee. We got dressed in our hiking gear and headed to Pali Hwy. We parked at the trail head for Nuanu trail and took a small hike through the rainforest and along the river. We found a few swimming holes, waterfalls and rope swings. We then headed on in to Kailua and had lunch at the cute little cafe' that sev and I found a few days prior on our road trip around island. We took them for a tour around island, stopped in Kahuku at the shrimp farm and got a pound of fresh shrimp. We then headed back around island and got home just in time for dinner, I put two homemade pizzas in the oven (Hawaiian and veggie) Dave cooked up the shrimp for appetizers and we had a lovely meal :)
I went to the gym for a evening run while sev took his parents down to the pool for a swim. Sue didnt think she wanted to swim so she didnt go in her bathing suit, but after sticking her toe in the warm pool water she surprised us all by jumping in with her clothes on!!
I got back from the gym just in time for bed!!
The island is under a flood warning right now...its been raining non stop since around midnight last night...so we took the weather as a hint to skip the beach and ramble around pearlridge. We walked about a block or two to Anna Millers (a local eatery here) and then skipped on over to the mall to window shop while we waited for a movie time. We watched "American Gangster"...pretty good movie...well, JD and Sev made fun of Sue and I because we kept covering our eyes in parts....I'm SORRY but I HATE needles and watching someone shoot up on heroin Just doesnt seem pleasant to watch!! We walked on back to the apartment and here we sit...waiting on someone to get up and cook dinner...(me, hehe) or someone to suggest a restaurant to dine at this rainy evening.

I have pictures...and once I have time I will post!!!
Its off to maui tomorrow...I'm not sure if I'll take the computer there or not...either way, I'm sure we'll be busy...but I'll try to keep this updated.