Thankful Thursday

Today I would like to highlight one AMAZING thing I have to be thankful for.

BEN

Yes, My Husband. I love him. He is so understanding, forgiving, caring, loving, tolerant, humble, compassionate, grounded, worthy, devoted, did I mention forgiving? He's a hard worker. And along with that he's been VERY absent from our home lately due to work, he's been home off and on, mostly off with brief visits, for the past three months. I LOVE when Ben is home, he is such a great help and he is such an important fixture in our house. He does so much for me. He does so much for the kids. He does so much for my parents and grand parents. He does so much for "his family (and when I say that I mean "my" family too). He does so little for himself. He deserves SO MUCH. So many things that I wish I could give him. For now all I have to offer is me, and my companionship, appreciation, gratitude, affection, adoration, friendship, my best-friendship, devotion, and my LOVE. I love you honey. For Eternity. Always remember that. Especially when 'm not necessarily giving 100%, let me apologize for that now. You will ALWAYS be my true love. You will always have my heart, my life, my world.

I love you!

I brought Steve to work today...

Steve Madden that is!!!! :) Yup real, honest, clickitty, clackitty, three and a half inch, Steve Madden Wedges!. You got it another shoe post. Really someday I might have something else to write about other than this insane obsession I have with shoes.

Thanks to Tiffany, my personal photographer, I can share the evidence of me in my fun shoes! So today I have been working on "gliding" along rather than my normal strong quick pace that resonates and echos as I strut down the hall or road. Do you know how hard it is to land on the balls of your feet and control the force you put on your heels?!? Oh...my...goodness! My legs might be worn out before my soccer game even starts tonight!! --Just joking girls, I've been saving up for two weeks for tonight's game!-- But really, I've been using muscles in my legs I didn't even know I had....I know they're there now, I can feel them, they are SCREAMING at me. I told my Superintendent today that we REALLY need this place carpeted. When I start running this joint (someday) that will be the first thing I do. It has been great being able to dress like the woman that I am. The guys that work with me up in this office have been middle teasing me about the "noise" but I'm pretty sure that's cause they're seeing all the effort I'm putting in trying not to drive them crazy. Today has opened so many doors for me.....hmmmm.....not quite 54 but there are more options than I had a month ago for sure!!!!! And so many of them have a beautiful height adding quality to them. My motto--The taller, the better, within reason, but it better be a good reason! Nothing makes me happier than a good strong 4" heel! I haven't found a shoe that I just had to have with any more than that attached to it, but than again, I haven't really looked either. I'm 5'4 1/2", my hubby is 5'10". If my shoes are too tall than I would be taller him and I don;t need to give him a complex, I wouldn't want to look down on him either..... I guess this is one of the reasons that I should be happy I didn't grow to my desired 5'10"-5'11" that would have been perfect for my basketball dreams! Did I mention that I have a second obsession with sports? Oh, and another for reading. And one for food? And then there is the giraffe one too...... Maybe that's why everyone says I'm so easy to shop for, I'm always the first person they cross of their Christmas lists. :)

My kids....how sweet they are.

So once again sorry for the phone pictures, I was using what I had so its a dark picture but you can get the idea.

So Madison is sleeping on Ty's shoulder and Ty is sleeping on Madison's head. How sweet are they when they are unconscious....if only it carried over when they woke up......I guess you can't have it all, but you can have a little of it for a while and you better enjoy it while you can!

Don't you love the seatbelt pillow?

Sorry for the blur, I was driving down I-5, I think I was changing lanes too, but hey the kids weren't fighting so I wasn't yelling on top of it all, not at that exact second anyway.......

How many of you remember the seatbelt pillow. My kids have recently discovered this, maybe it just wasn't an option in my other cars, maybe my kids are geniuses, or maybe it's just one of those things that are auto programed into your brain, sorta like breathing. Yup, you know the trick. Buckle up and then pull the seatbelt all the way out until it clicks and then let it suck back in and lock. Perfect place to lay your head and take a nap while in the car on a trip. Unless your driving, then make sure you keep at least one eye open, halfway, then switch eyes every once in a while.

Big Day!

Another shoe post......maybe I should change the name of my blog to "The Shoes of our Lives"......

So, today was the day that I decided I could use a little elevation! I only opted for "a little elevation" since all of my favorite heels would be horribly loud walking down our hallways here in the building. I'm working up the guts for those. Here are the lovely ladies I decided to break the tennis shoe and flip-flop mold with. Hey Stef do you remember that mug? Yup one of my favorite Secret Santas EVER gave that one to me....What was that 11 years ago or so?!? I still got it. I still use it. I still LOVE it! Okay so back to the shoes. My mom got those for me. They're older than the mug. Naturalizer, you got to love how they last. That and the fact that you can wear them all day long and your feet don't hate you at the end of the day. So the reason I wore my shoes was that I had to wear another cute pair of girl pants and there was no way that flats would cut it, dragging cuffs, asphalt, and rain just aren't a good combo. Just wait till I pull out the big guns, those babies will be impressive!

Post #100!!!!

So this morning I knew what my post today was going to be about I was so excited and then I noticed that today it would be post number ONE HUNDRED, yeah it took me a while to get here but here I am. Yea!

SO...... Today when I was getting ready for work I decided today was the day to wear GIRL SHOES! (yes post 100 is about shoes, does it get any better than that?) Not only were there girl shoes but girl jeans and a girl top too! Watch out I'm braking out!!!!! My hubby saw my shoes tried to tell me I couldn't wear them, what if I had to go into an industrial area? I pointed out that my steel-toe shoes are conveniently under my desk. I have been wearing jeans and steel-toe shoes to work for 9 1/2 years. It feels so go to be able to be feminine for once. I haven't busted out the four inch heels, and I have plenty of those, I'm not quite brave enough for that yet, AND we have hard flooring not carpeting so walking through the office and down the hallway would be quite noisy. I did it once on my day off and felt so conspicuous that I went back out to my car to grab my flip-flops.

Next up, more jewelry, and more girl clothes. I could so get used to the office life, oh wait, I already am! :)

First new desk gift!

So I have officially gotten my fist new desk gift. It came from the lovely Tiffany. Isn't that just like her? Always thinking of other people that girl is.......you just gotta love her.

Is everyone ready for this? Here it comes....

MINE. ALL MINE. HANDS OFF! Yeah, it is a pretty amazing red pen. The pen is red, the ink is black. It writes darn well too.

Side note on the desk gift line......

Honey, (I'm assuming someday you'll read my blog again and see this) if you ever wanted to send me flowers I am now be located here:

Bldg 900, 4th Floor, Rm 402

Naval Base Kitasp-Bremerton

Good Morning!

Morning from my new desk! Yup you heard me right, MY NEW DESK. They cleaned it off, wiped it down, and even pledged it! They just might like me....ya think? Now to decorate. What adornment should there be on my desk? I need to bring in pictures of kids, that is a must. I found this fun mug while traveling home from Houston that touted about being an Electrician, a plant maybe..........I don't know what will end up on my desk but I can almost guarantee that no matter what I end up collecting here and displaying, it will most likely end up under a few piles of paperwork, dishes and whatever else I plan on just setting down for a few minutes. Give me a week and I bet my desk goes from this.... (my desk looks alot like this one, for now)

to this.......

Actually, that is a bet that my mom wouldn't even make.

Hello From Houston!

Yup, you heard right. I'm in Houston, TX. I flew down here for the week to attend some training for some new test equipment we just bought. Fortunately I have company, a couple of the guys from the crew that I'm still working on (until I actually move upstairs to my new job) came down here too. It has been fun hanging out and having dinner and just being able to relax. Oh, yeah, the class is really interesting and I'm learning lots, you know since that's the whole reason for the trip........I do miss my family, it's not often that I'm away from them. But it is nice to be able to kick my feet up, watch tv and not have to worry about cleaning the bathroom or making the bed. (okay, you caught me, everyone knows I never make the bed, but I do clean the bathroom)

Well, the delivery guy from the chinese place just showed up with my hot fresh food that I don't have to share....mmm, my tummy is rumbling with anticipation!

Here's the Scoop!!!

I GOT THE JOB!!!!! Yea me! technically I haven't gotten the phone call at home but they announced last week that they had made selection and that I was one of them!!!! YEA!!!

So I'm sorta anxious. I love the job I have now and I know I'm going to miss it but this new job is career changing. It takes me from the toolbag lugging blue collar world to the warm desk white collar world. I'll be involved in a lot of decision's in years to come at work and in a few years there are going to be quite a few key players retiring.........

So I have to run but I'll get you more details about the job later!!!!!

UUGGGHHHH!!!

I swear, that must have been the worst fifteen minutes of my life. Yup, fifteen whole minutes that were palm sweaty, stomach bubbly, ants in my pants terrible. Fortunately both of the interviewers know me since I have worked for them before. Well, I guess from here out I cross my fingers and wait for the phone to ring, maybe it'll ring tonight........I'll let you all know as soon as I do.

Just a little extra tid-bit. This new job good be very good for my existence in the bloggerhood! (Only since I would have my own computer and everything not that I would have all day.....)

Someone.......

Someone has a job interview in just over an hour and a half!!!!!!!!!

Shhhhhh.............I'll let you know...........

Surprise...

Look at me go two posts in two days.....yeah, I know, pretty impressive.

Okay so more pictures from our vacation! I really fell in love with this group of palm trees right off the walk from our hotel, I swear they must have planted them there knowing it would be a killer picture.

And then there was the Portuguese Man-O-War that stung me while I was going for a swim in the ocean, yeah, I didn't like him too much. I wasn't heartbroken while I watched him wash up on shore knowing his time was limited.....

And life guard shack that was yet again a perfect setup for a picture.....

The little blow hole that I just happened to stumble across when I demanded that Ben pull over so I could take more pictures. Okay I didn't have to demand, he was pretty tolerating of me and my camera.And then there was boogie boarding! The kids loved it! So did Ben!

There was plenty of playtime on the beach!

I just want to know why all beaches can't look this amazing!Did I mention that I went surfing. Not only did I go surfing I actually caught a few waves! And I have the pictures to prove it too! Oh yeah, Ben did some surfing as well, just not as good as me if you ask my kids. Madison will tell you that I topped Ben in the performance category......

Here is a warning: There is NO guarantee that my surfing pictures will remain posted as I'm not sure how many people I want seeing me in my bikini! Yes, this is sorta like the burn post.

Just for the record, this part might have been one best things about surfing: RESTING!

Here we go....

Okay so here is the first round of pics from my trip. I took a bunch so sit back and enjoy!

Here is my version of the pictures from the previous post, I snagged those of some web sites and of course mine are much better....So the view from our room, we stayed in the Tapa Tower which is also the tower I stayed in on my trip nine years ago, it was great for the sunset if we had been in our room at sunset ever....we weren't.And then there is Bellows! I LOVE BELLOWS! For all of you who aren't in on my secret Hawaii getaway it's called Bellows Air Force Station, if you are active duty, retired, civil service, or know someone who falls into any of these categories and can get them to Hawaii with you, you too could stay at bellows and wake up to this in the morning...... Okay, now lots more pictures. One day we took off not sure what our destination would be. We were going to go to my favorite beach, yeah the picture right above, but I got a call from my aunt that it was raining on that side of the island, so we went to the Dole Plantation.
At the Dole property they have the World's Largest Maze!!!! Of course we had to check it out!

They had these kiosks throughout the maze that had little stencils, there were eight total and the girls raced teh guys to see who could find all eight stations first. The girls won.

Then we drove teo the north shore and ben decided that none of the beaches were safe enough and friendly enough for his kids so we started back towards Waikiki when we stumbled upon this hidden treasure. I remember it from a previous trip and any one on the island will tell you this is the place to get true shave ice!

And after that quick stop we did make it to the beach in Waikiki, which in my opinion is the worst beach on the island but will always work in a pinch.

Okay, so that should be good enough for starters, and I have to bring in more pictures to share, no gaurantees on it being tomorrow but maybe I'll surprise me and all of you and have something sweet and sunny and succulent to share with you from Hawaii...

Alien Abduction?

I would love to blame my absence on an alien abduction so that's what I'm going to do.

No really, those sneaky little buggers swooped right down picked me up plopped me into my work truck out on a cold windy pier somewhere in the shipyard and forced me to work. Can you believe it? How rude! So now that I've managed to ind my way back to a computer I will try to catch everyone up the happenings in my life.

For starters, I JUST got back from Hawaii. Yes, it was amazing and yes, I took tons of pictures so you have that to look forward to....

Ben had to fly to Guam and go for a ride on a really big boat that happens to be owned by our Uncle, his name in Sam. The boat was destined for Hawaii and Ben asked if I wanted to meet him there. DUH, did he even have to ask? It had been nine years since I had returned to the place of my birth and so many fun early childhood memories....YES I WANT TO MEET YOU THERE SILLY BOY!!!! So I did. Me and the kids. It was a six hour plane flight and they kept pumping juice down Ty. Did I mention that he has a bladder the size of a peanut? We got Hawaii and had to wait for Ben to check into our room so we waited for him, and waited, and waited. We waited on the beach, and in the pool, and eventually, in the lobby...... Poor me, having to sit and wait while relaxing on the beach of this hotel.......

Psssssssst....That is the Hilton Hawaiian Village, and it was great but isn't my favorite place to stay on the island.....this one is........It's Bellows Airforce Station, yeah it's and upside to government employment.....

Yeah, it was absolutely horrible.... :)

Well, for now I have to leave you on pins and needles to hear the rest of my story, but the work whistle is about to start nibbling at my heels......I'll have more pictures and delicious tales of Aloha for you later!