Hawaii

4 wks after surgery for Tasha, 8 months old + for Teo

I spent 6 weeks and 3 days in Hawaii.  Going just a short 6 wks after Ric got home from his last deployment.
Our daughter Tasha had back surgery.  Dr. Orchowski fused her L-5 to S-1.  I visited Tripler so much that by the end of my trip I was able to direct people to different area's of the hospital.  Our grandson Mateo was 7 months old when I arrived.

Ric and I went to the International Market in 1989

                                  

 6 days before I left I made the girls get in the car and I drove them around the island.  They told me some 20 miles into the drive I had to turn around cause the road ended and we would fall off into the ocean.   Later they realized we were on the opposite side of the island and we hadn't fallen off into the ocean.  Tasha was able to see parts of the island she hadn't seen in her almost 3 years.

A CRUISE A CRUISE HE TOOK ME ON A CRUISE!!!! CAN YOU SAY FABULOUS!

He has promised me a cruise since Christmas 1988.  He took me!  We went to the Eastern Caribbean, San Juan, Saint Martin, and Saint Thomas, on Celebrity Solstice.
I can honestly tell anyone that for me this is on the same level as the first time I went to Paris.  Celebrity treated us to such decadent luxury!
We left on the cruise on 3rd of April returning 7 days later on the 10th.  Ric had just returned from a deployment to Kuwait of almost a year.

State Room 3133

Old Town San Juan PR

Marigot, St Martin

St. Thomas

Ric's favorite pic from the cruise

From the moment we checked our luggage at the porters we were treated like royalty.  We boarded and had lunch, afterward making out way to the Solstice deck our favorite quiet place to sit.  We had such a wonderful time that by the 5th day Ric was talking about the next cruise.  I think my favorite part of the cruise was the lack of phone coverage and internet.   We actually spent time together without interruption.

There will be more cruises!  I so enjoy the days at sea that I can just sit and watch the water pass.  Loving our quiet time.  Other than that the days we disembarked we were able to see places that we wouldn't go for a vacation to for any length of time, and we did not have to schlepp our luggage from hotel to hotel.  Most important was the service I received being gluten intolerant. (They even bake g-free on board)

He's on the PLANE!

I am so excited.  As I write this Ric is now aboard a plane on the other side of the world.  But on a plane which means he will soon be on this side of the world.  By the time you see this he will be home!  I have not touched his handsome face or held his strong hands in 333 days (or 479,520 minutes, or 7,992 hrs, or 1102 meals).
This year has had it's ups and downs and swerves and jerks.  I was able to spend a couple of weeks with my cousin, sometime with one of our girls before her family moved to Alaska, a month with the Freier Team, sometime with my mom when she came out to visit.  Beaux was sick and in ICU (vet) at K-State in Dec.
God is always good.  However, this year has gone quickly even though there were times I felt would never pass me by.  I am Thankful to a gracious God who makes time keep ticking at the same rate regardless of the good, bad, or ugly that we are walking thru at the time.  I am grateful that God loves me enough to put the right people in the right place for "such a time as this."  I pray that I have been faithful enough to what it is that God planned for me in this time.  I am human only with God's mercy and grace could I have been "enough."
Well I am off... to bed... prayerfully my last night of this deployment.

Footstools

In our bathrooms we have these little plastic foot stools/steps.  They are ugly and every time I look at them I think "surely there is something I can do to make this look prettier!"

So the other day I sat down and started sewing.  Here is what I came up with.  I have no pattern other than the stool itself.  I have to finish the pink one and make one more for the 3rd stool.

I am so excited!

Ok so there are a couple of reasons to be excited.  But right now I want to talk about makeup, GLUTEN FREE makeup.  I have been using my normal Bare Minerals .

For years I have not worn mascara more than one or two times a year because every time I did it hurt my eyes.  Well recently I thought maybe since people are talking about gluten free mascara I should look into that.  I am happy to say I am now wearing mascara on day 2 and am having NO reactions.  Other than compliments.   I usually go no more than 15 minutes without a reaction. This is very cool.  Maybelline!  The inexpensive stuff can you believe that!  Great Lash Big Washable Mascara (NOT the WATERPROOF!!!!)

3 Favorite things

Ok so this is a random post.  Today I just want to list a few of my favorite things.  Things that I am thankful I do not have to live without.
    My phone                                   My hair towels                                              My Wii

              

Affect Change

I am doing a Beth Moore Bible study,  Breaking Free.
This paragraph really strikes me.
"Sometimes we're willing to criticize what happened before us, but are we willing to take the challenge of positively affecting those after us?  The little slice of time God offers each generation is a trust.  Those before us who were not faithful with their trust will be held accountable, but we're still here.  We still have a chance to positively affect the generations that follow us."  Isaiah 39:5-8 ... what kind of "link" was Hezekiah?
Oh God help me to be faithful and honoring of the slice of time you have given me.