Memorial Day Weekend

Wow two posts in month....that new for me. We had a great Memorial Day Weekend! We actually had fun, hung out with friends, got a home project done, went diving and I learned how to sew. That extra day now and then, sure helps to still get stuff done and have fun.

Saturday started off with a beach party in honor of Greg & Erin and soon to be baby boy. Thanks Sarah for a fun day at the beach. We still have a bit of leftovers in the fridge.

Sunday was project day! Chad went to Lowe's and bought lumbar and a new saw to line our attic. Totally Chad's project, thank goodness for a handy husband! We now have a place for our luggage, Christmas stuff and other stuff we don't pull out very often. Some how the extra bedroom doesn't have as much extra space as I had anticipated, but I will figure out something this week. We will have to put some stuff in the attic while we work on the rest of the ceiling.

Chad also taught me how to sew Sunday night. I practiced on an old pillowcase that had a hole. I mostly just jammed the machine, but I got in a few straight lines. I also searched my new favorite craft blogs for project ideas. I found a really cute dress that was above my level for now but lead me to a shirt dress made out a of tank top and old tee shirt (totally my skill level). Tonight after diving a I pulled and old tank and tee shirt, then made my first dress. Not perfect, but not bad. I think I will be practicing on a few more projects like this for awhile.

This morning we went diving on Sea Dreams. We heard the visibility has been unreal, but for today it was only 15 feet. : ( First dive at the mahi was just plain trouble. My mask kept flooding and my weight belt kept turning, so one side of my body was weighted done. By the time I got settled it was time to go back up! Chad had much more trouble. Chad's bc was free flowing, being the boy scout dive master that he is, he totally took care of it. MG-35 was awesome....I cruised with Mash looking for shells and found a few purple pretty ones. I did learn what happens to delicate shells with you inflate your bc. One shell did survive. After diving I made my dress and actually uploaded and emailed some photos.

All in and all a great and productive weekend!

Condo Adventure

I only seem to write in the middle of the night when I cannot sleep, so if its fill in the blank blog you understand.

As of the end of March we are officially home owners. There were many moments when I thought this day would never happen, but it finally did. We purchased a 2 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 parking condo at Crosspoint. For a reference point Crosspoint is near the Ice Palace, around the corner from Aloha Stadium or just past Pearl Harbor. I must say having not to search for your car in the morning and pray that its not towed (our old neighborhood had areas where you could not park during peak drive times) is nice. The second bathroom is truly a blessing with two people trying to get out the door at the same time in the morning. The extra space is just wonderful.

Our first month we have scrapped the popcorn ceiling in the dining room, kitchen and downstairs bedroom. We have new kitchen lights on dimmer since some smart person decided to put popcorn inside the fluorescent light box. The kitchen also has a fan that flips down from a cabinet, as we quickly learned that it is unbearably hot to cook on the stovetop in that space. The downstairs bedroom has a new ceiling fan as the we had the granny fan with white and gold accents, including flowers on each blade. The really, really old stackable washer/dryer bit the dust so we have a nice new full size stackable set. We also have a nice bbq thank you Jasen! The bathrooms have quiet vents so you can actually here yourself think in the morning. We have an temporary inexpensive bookcase in the dining room, its the only thing in the whole dining room at the moment. Its nice from going to an apt that was just too small to a place with tons of extra space.

We have quickly learned that will be busy every weekend for awhile to turn our condo into our home. We have a clock ticking as we have visitors now coming over the summer and we don't want to look like a construction zone. May's project is finishing the ceilings. We need to simultaneously scrap the living room and upstairs bedroom ceiling, add lighting and a new fan (the old lady no longer turns), add insulation to help cool our until and add a solar fan to vent the hot air. A few hot and humid nights have pushed us to get this done before summer. Plus we need the extra space from not having an furniture to temporarily move the living room into the dining room.

This year no resolutions!

Here is what I said last year and what happened.

1) Exercise by walking home and taking pilates on Sunday. So far I made one day of walking and one day of pilates.

Walking home stopped when it just got too darn hot! Plus now I will be driving again, as we are moving. I did however start Pilates again. Its a great way to start a new week! Last year's teacher changed the date and everyone dropped because it didn't work with their schedules.

2) Not stress about stupid things that don't matter or things I cannot control.

Definitely working on this one. I think we are improving, but could more use.

3) Enjoy living in Hawaii more, by taking time to go to the beach, swimming, hiking and eating the great food.

Well, the whole home buying thing has taken almost all over our time the last 5 months. We did go scuba diving last Sunday, which reminded me why I love diving in Hawaii over California. Last night we also saw the Lost premier on Waikiki beach. We are still working on this goal over all, by doing simple things like walking on the beach at Sunset.

Champagne Thursday

Champagne Thursday is in honor of the work to be almost to an end. This Champagne Thursday as Chad works on his boat, I am being me cleaning up the apt a bit, laundry, and waiting for girly tv to come on. This week has truly been up and down. The weather is super humid!!!! As we have another storm pass above the islands, thank goodness its not hitting us but boy is it hot! We actually gave in and plugged in the AC!!!! We also bought a new fan and I think the heat go to our brains when reading the measurements, its bit too short to reach over the bed. In honor of getting out of the house and not being the dull married couple ran around in the heat, which was hot we ended up trying a new frozen yogurt place, Menchies. It was very good and refreshing on a hot day. Chad & I give the whole frozen yogurt place thing a year before it busts.

Settling into Domestic Life

I still have to finish writing about Peru, but that blog update is sooo long. So after Chad graduated I thought we would have more time, but it seems like we have been sprinting the last two months. Chad was offered a job to assist teaching a class that was traveling to Peru, right after graduation, so he jumped on the chance. I went the best week for Macchu Picchu and Cusco! It was truly amazing and life changing trip. Once Chad came home he started with DBS Hawaii. Now and then he still also helps out the boat. We have been in super cleaning mode, the LeMars came to visit, started looking for a home and Chad has a "The Ankle Biter" his boat to work on. The best thing his class that he is teaching is almost done, he just has to do is help grade the projects! So hopefully when Chad is down to 1.5 jobs we will actually get to spending with him before we get too super busy again. This past July was our 4th wedding anniversary, I cannot believe how the time has flown by.

Getting Ready for the Big Day

One week to go until the big graduation day. Five years ago this day seem so far away and now its next week. We have a total of 11 family members coming in to support and cheer on Chad. The stress now that we have got the announcements out, for the most part is over. I have cleaned the house top to bought and just have a few errands left. The cheering crowd starts to arrive on Monday and then we get to celebrate for 2 weeks!

Won't take on too much

As Chad and I are both growing crazy and his graduation is in just a few days, I am realizing we both work really hard and do not need to above and beyond everytime. We both have been coming exhausted with more projects to do at home. I haven't cook dinner lately, I did step it up to quesdillas from pb&j. We both need to learn how to say I cannot. I have been practicing this week and said no twice, and do not feel guilty a bit. I think we still have a good amount of work to do, but we cannot keeping at the rate we are going.