Saturday, October 30, 2004



Busy busy busy

I would like to start by apologizing for not keeping up with my blogs lately. Ever since I have gotten home it has been run run run! My head has been spinning in over drive for the last week, trying to get organized and back into a routine. We have been having fun showing my mom all around Hawaii. Today we spent the day snorkeling at Hanama Bay. At first she did not do so well but she eventually got the hang of it and learned to love it. She has been here for 1 week and she is already 10 shades darker then I am so I told her she is not aloud to stand by me and if she gets any darker she will have to go book a hotel down town. It is bad enough that she fits into all my clothes!
In case anyone is keeping count I have now forgotten to pick up Addison from school three times now! This Wednesday we did it again. Kind of a bad experience all around. You see we just bought a new Jeep Wrangler. So I thought it would be fun to take the top off and drive the kids and my mom to the beach which is a half hour away. Well lets just say the kids hated the windy ride, my frightened mother was hanging on for dear life and Corben screamed all the way home. My mom had to hang onto his foot all the way home b/c she was afraid he would fly out. I thought I was going to have enough time to drop them off have a quick shower and then go pick her up at her regular time. Then we got home and realized it was Wednesday and we were late to pick up Addison. So we rushed straight to the school in my bathing suit and with my wind blown hair to get her. I will leave out the worse part of the storey but lets just say I had to rush home for pad..........So I can hear all the kindergarten moms talking now......"I cannot believe she forgot her poor little girl at school again!" "Can you believe she actually showed up here in a bathing suit?" "does she even own a hair brush?" "If I am remembering correctly a Jeep Wrangler only has two seat belts in the back" So this being said, I will not be surprised if child protective services show up on my door step looking for the unorganized mom with bad hair.

Tuesday, October 26, 2004



Home Sweet Home!

Well I am back and it is great to be home in the nice warm sun again! First of all let me start off by saying that Women Of Faith is absolutely the most amazing time ever. If you ever have the chance to go, jump on it! It was so inspirational and encouraging! Tammy Trent is an amazing women and I encourage you to buy her CD! Now the shopping......Oh the shopping....Where do I start? The Mall of America..........The huge two storey IKEA.............The 300plus store outlet mall.....I am dizzy just thinking about all the miles we put on and I still have price tags flashing through my eyes! It all went so fast that it is a blur! And get this, read closely, because this is a miracle that you will have never witnessed before or again most likely, Alyssa Turner is actually tired of shopping. The miracle is I fit it all in three suit cases and some carry on luggage and they were all right on the dot, to the pound, the max weight aloud. GOD IS GREAT! So my mom flew home with me and is here to stay for 3 weeks! We will be busy showing her all the site, and soaking up the rays. Aloha!

Tuesday, October 19, 2004



Shopping in the off season!

North Dakota shopping is great! Especially when you live in Hawaii and come in the off season when all the summer stuff is on sale, and all the North Dakotan's are too cold to buy it. I am telling you, I am on the biggest shopping high of my life, well maybe not the biggest but it is great none the less. I have bought a whole new wardrobe and nothing I have purchased has cost more then $1.97! Can you believe it!!! I have goose bumps just thinking about it! I cannot put enough exclamation points behind my sentences!! Do you see the excitement running through my veins? The best part is...We have not even started our shopping weekend yet....And the all day outlet mall extravaganza!!!!!OK OK I have to stop writing, I am getting too excited just thinking about! I really do have to look into a job as a personal shopper. Could you imagine...Getting PAID to SHOP!!!!

Monday, October 18, 2004



FREEZING!!!

As some of my fellow Blog readers may know I am now on a reverse vacation. What is a reverse vacation , you are wondering? Well a reverse vacation is one where you leave a tropical island paradise to come freeze your butt off in North Dakota! I am having a great time despite the bone chilling cold. It would really help if I could go outside with something on my feet besides flip flops, but my broken toe does not allow for that. You could image the stares I get when people see me walking around outside. Well limping around I should say. I am visiting my best friend and her family, and the is weekend I am meeting a bunch of family and friends for a Women of Faith conference, and lots of shopping! I fly home next Monday with my mom in toe where we will lie on the beach and unthaw! I will try and Blog when I have a chance but they will be few and far between for the next week or so!

Thursday, October 14, 2004



Broken toe!

Today Corben and I went to the grocery store and while standing in the check out line he decided to pick up a can of spaghettios and throw it right on my toe. OOWWWWEEE! So I hobbled out of the grocery store, one broken toe later. I think my husband paid him to do it. He knows I have the biggest shopping trip of the year coming up and that I would not be able to get to as many stores with a broken toe. Curse you aqua scum! I guess this solves my packing dilemma. I will not be able to go jogging or wear a shoe for that matter. Blessing in disguise? I think not! So I guess I have a huge prayer request....Heal my poor toe before the big shopping trip so I will not be hindered in any way. I am sure God will put that one at the top of his priority list, what do you think?

Wednesday, October 13, 2004



Down-size!

Ok I have a dilemma.....I am packing for a ten day trip to Minnesota to visit some friends and family, and on the plane I can take two large suitcases with a 50 pound max and one carry on as well as a purse or personal bag. So I started packing, only the necessities of course, and both big suit cases are jammed full. The dilemma is I have not even added my shoes yet. I know what you are thinking, surly you can squeeze a pair of shoes into your bag. A pair of shoes, yes, but 10 pairs, that might be a toughy. I absolutely cannot go anywhere without over packing. So I went through the suit case and tried to take out some things that I might not wear, this isn't so hard......But then I went through my closet and found ten more must haves!! How does a person do it. Is 100 pounds of clothes for 10 days a little excessive? One might say yes, but a girl has got to be prepared. For example if I want to go to the gym and I put on my pink jogging suit but all I have with me is my red runners...Yikes...That would be a fashion disaster. So of course I have to bring my runners in all three colors just in case. Did I mention this was a trip where shopping in the biggest mall in America is one of our top sight seeing locations. I am going to need a third suitcase just for the stuff I buy and have to hull home. Maybe I should just get my own private jet. Where did I put that winning lottery ticket???



Super Size!

Last night I watched the movie Super Size Me. I was watching it because I love love love Big Macs and I was hoping by watching that movie it would turn me off of McDonald's forever. It is a documentary about a guy who went on a 30 day diet of three square McDonald's meals a day, and charted all the effects. It was absolutely astonishing! I am watching this moving thinking, oh yuck! Disgusting! Then drooling over every meal he ate. I think the only way to turn myself off of big macs would be to do the McDonald's diet myself. That would be my kind of diet!



Comments

Someone is leaving anonymous comments on my posts and it is driving me crazy! Doesn't everyone know I am a nosy person and that inquiring minds want to know? Furthermore to comment on the last anonymous comment I do think all the moments with my children are special, some days are just a little more stressful then others and I was using my blogg to vent that day. Which is one of the reasons I started the blogg. A place for me to vent when I am having one of those day, and not take it out on anyone but my computer. That said I am going to go finish getting my daughter ready for school and I will write more later.

Monday, October 11, 2004



Calgone Take Me Away

I am having one of those Calgone take me away days. It is a holiday here so all the kids are home from school and Ben had his first all day training session at the restaurant. So I decided to take the kids to the beach today to burn some energy. So at the beach they fought b/c one push another in the water, Then we had the usual she has the sand bucket that I want argument, followed by 20 I'm thirsty, I'm hungry's, and Corben being cranky and well past nap time. So I tried to tune it all out by concentrating on the beautiful scenery....When I over heard a new fight developing over, get this....Touching each others sand! That's it! I lost it! "Look around! Do you see all this sand on the beach? You are surrounded by sand and you guys are fighting over it? GET IN THE CAR WE ARE GOING HOME!" So after a long lecture in the car on the way home I tell them they are going striate to the bath, putting their pj's on and going in their rooms for a quite time. As I tell myself.....Only a few more minutes and I can have some peace and quite. So they are all clean and Corben is down for his long awaited nap, Ben calls. I should say, Ben calls again. The first time he called to say that he would be two hours late. This next call was two hours later to say that his tire was flat and he needed me to drive downtown and pick him up. AGHHHHHHHHHHHH! So I wake Corben up from his nap, haul all the kids and myself in our pajama's into the car to pick him up, and come home to cook dinner, do laundry, mop the floors where Corben thought it would be fun to throw his lasagna, help my husband change his tire, and make an appointment to get that fitting for my stray jacket I am going to be needing. A mothers job is never done. One of those things where you work 24 hours a day 7 days a week, with no pay and little appreciation. Not that I am complaining.......After all they are really cute when they are sleeping.

Sunday, October 10, 2004



I love Hawaii!

Today we spent another beautiful Hawaiian day pool-side. Although the pool is beach-side, so you have the best of both worlds. We are coming up on our 1 year anniversary of living in Hawaii and it feels like it has been about three months tops. I guess time really does fly when you are having fun. I still have to wake up and pinch myself to make sure I am not dreaming. I feel so incredibly blessed to raise my children in such an awesome environment. They think a day of making sand castles and jumping in the waves followed by a firework show on the beach is a normal every day kid thing to do. They are going to have to hog tie us and drag us out of here when it is time to go. In the mean time we will enjoy every minute, and never take for granted the full arch rainbow in the sky we get to look up and see everyday.

On to my next bit of news.....Corben hit a huge milestone yesterday! A milestone that most babies meet a few months earlier, but never the less Corben finally took his first steps, and by our reaction you would have thought that he had invented the end to world hunger. It was a very joyous and celebrated event! Check out the video on his webpage when you get a chance!
GO CORBEN!!!

Thursday, October 07, 2004



Nothing exciting

Well I really have nothing interesting to write about today. Maybe that is a good thing. It means that I have not forgot my kids at school, and nobody has cut their hair off, and we have had no trips to the emergency room. I am still starving....But that's OK because I can fit in my jeans again! I went and seen the movie "Open Water" tonight at the cheap theater. It is a low budget movie, but was pretty good. Not a good idea to see a movie about sharks when you live in Hawaii though. Makes you think twice about going in the water! I was thinking of taking the kids to the beach tomorrow, but I think I will stick to the sand....At least until I forget about seeing that movie. Maybe I will go rob a bank tomorrow or something so I have something fun to write about! JUST KIDDING!

Wednesday, October 06, 2004



Starving!

After a summer of eating myself sick on a regular basis I have gotten to the point where all my jeans are two tight to sit down in. Since I refuse to go back to the 80's my only choice has been to shed a few pounds:( So last week I tried eating smaller portions and worked out 5 times during the week. Yesterday however I got the Herbalife in that I had ordered off eBay and started that. I consists of a shake for breakfast and lunch, and then you basically eat a healthy dinner. Well lets just say that by the end of the night I was starving. In fact I was so hungry that I had to go to bed at 9 b/c I figured if I was asleep I would not feel the hunger pains. So now it is 5am and I cannot sleep and I am still starving. So I am going to work out and then reward myself with yet another shake. The shakes actually taste wonderful (cookies and cream) but when they state that they are filling.....They are LYING! I have lost 4 pounds so far, and have at least 5 to go....Preferably 8. The sad part is that I let myself get to this state of emergency. What ever happened to the days of eating what ever and as much as you want b/c I have high metabolism and I do not have to worry about it? I hate getting old! At least I'm not 30! Ha ha just kidding........To all my over 30 readers!

Tuesday, October 05, 2004



The Couches Are In!

I have ranted and raved about my new couches so much that I thought I would post a picture for you all to admire.....I mean see.



New couch!



My New Couches!

Monday, October 04, 2004



Corben's armoir before



Corben's armoir after



before hutch picture



the hutch is done!



Latest projects!

Here are some before and after pics of my latest furniture projects. These are pieces that people have thrown out and I have picked up and refinished! The hutch is now in the kitchen and the armoire is in the playroom, but will eventually be moved over to Corben's room when he goes to a big bed and we do the surf theme.

Sunday, October 03, 2004



Catch-up weekend!

This weekend we spent getting all our little minor household tasks done. From painting furniture to yard maintanence we got it all accomplished. I love a productive weekend. I even refinished the hutch that someone threw out on the street and is now a new piece in my kitchen. I will post before and after pictures this week. I just have to find some drawer knobs for it and I will be done. Once I get the new couches on Tuesday my house will feel complete. Well at least until I go on my next little tangent!

Today we went for dinner at Gordon Bierch, which by the way is my husbands new second job! It as a great restaurants with and ocean view, and is located right where the cruise ships dock so the location should be perfect for some money making nights!! Ben starts training next week, then he will start taking tables. We are very much looking forward to the extra income. Do I sound shallow or what?

The girls and I went and saw the movie "Shark's Tale" today. It was a very cute movie in a Bob Marley/MTV/cartoon gangster sort of way. If you put a hip twist on Finding Nemo you would have a Shark's Tale. You have to have the down low on the hip lingo ya know?! Peace out! Word to your mother!

Friday, October 01, 2004



New Couch!

Apparently the couches being discontinued were a blessing. Today I found the real couch of my dreams that matched my living room even better! To make it even more awesome it was $400 cheaper! What a deal!!! Also the other ones took 6-8 weeks to deliver and these ones will be here on Tuesday. We ended up finding them at the base furniture store so there was no tax on top of that. My lucky day!

Addison had cheerleading tonight at her first real football game. It was the cutest thing ever. The boy in her class that she likes was there and the entire time she cheered she stared at him, then giggled with her friends as they talked about how handsome he was. I have a 5 year old who is boy crazy........YIKES!

Well we are about to open a bottle of wine and sit down for our nightly routine of movie watching. Soon I will be able to do it on my new couches!~~!



Rich! Rich! Rich!

Last month we were scraping our pennies togeather, and this month we got our annual re-enlistment bonus so we are rich! Well not rich....but when you compare it to the two pennies we are substantiouly wealthy this month. So To celebrate I got my period a week early (too much info I know) but that kind of sets the mood for the rest of my day. Then after Ben got off work we decided to go out to a nice dinner and some shopping. So we went to Gap and they only have winter clothes so I could not buy anything if I wanted to. But thats ok b/c I was going to get a present for my best friend Marla who just found out she was having a boy. However I was not impressed with the boy selection. Then we went out to this fancy seafood resturaunt with a coupon out of my entertainment coupon book. Well the attmosphere was disappointing and the food was equal to something that came out of a microwave cardbord dinner box. I was so mad. I hate when you waiste money on food you could have cooked better yourself at home. So then adding up all these things and my PMS my mood was getting worse and worse. So to cheer myself up we decided to go order the new couches that I have had my eye on for the last year. This is sure to put me on cloud 9! So we drive to Ashley very slowly (rush hour traffic). We go in with my paper in hand to order the couches of my dreams............and it almost makes me want to cry what came next........"sorry mame but these couches have been discountinued!"
DISCOUNTINUED! DISCOUNTINUED! We are talking about the couches I have drooled over for a year, the couches that would look so perfect in my livingroom, the couches that were going to make my whole life complete, ok I am exagerating a little, but you could imagine my disappointment. So I went home with a pout on my face, put the kiddoes to bed, and sat down with my husband to sleep through yet another movie!