Makapu'u Point Lighthouse Trail

October 24, 2014

I joined the Hui 'O Na Wahine club a little after Charlie and I arrived and I have really enjoyed meeting some awesome military spouses and having fun doing it. I joined the adventure club and this friday we conquered the Makapu'u Lighthouse trail. The trail is on the far east side of the island in Honolulu. I bring my camera everywhere I go and this time I wish I would of brought a back pack to put it in, you will know why later. For hiking I highly recommend a back pack, camera if you are like me, a camelback because you are going to need LOTS of water especially if you live here in Hawaii, and some good hiking shoes because the trails can be a bit difficult. The lighthouse trail is a easy one with amazing views. There was no cloud cover that morning and we were able to see the other island, it was so beautiful. There is a area were you can free hike down to the tide pools. If you are not very athletic I probably would not recommend it. I myself love working out and it was difficult for me. It doesn't help me that I have small legs so climbing up the cliff was relatively hard for me. I forgot a back pack and a only had a nalgene filled with water and ran out relatively quickly(thus the camelback tip). Free hiking with my camera around my neck was extremely difficult, because if I would of scratched it up I would of been UPSET. Luckily I did not, and the camera some how made it scratch free. The tide pools were gorgeous and if I were you I would wear a swim suit under my hiking clothes so you can jump in the tide pools and swim with all the beautiful fish. There are also two blowholes called the dragons nostrils that you should watch out for I know some people have been hurt before not knowing what they were. 

Overall we had a amazing time and the hike was wonderful, I can not wait for the next adventure we will tackle. 

Aloha Y'all, 

Lauren

DIY Flower Crown

October 27,2014

   For Charlie and I's year anniversary I wanted to make myself a flower crown for the pictures. Now for me I am not the best at following directions, and always do my best when I just use my imagination and go for it. For this craft it turned out perfect.


First I started out with the supplies you will need: 

• Flowers of your choice
• Floral wiring
• Scissors
• Floral tape

Here in Ewa we currently do not have any florists so I went to safeway and found a beautiful bouquet of flowers for only 15 dollars. You are going to want to start by measuring your head with the wiring and then cut another piece of wiring and twist them so you are doubling it up to add more support. Do not put the two pieces of wiring side by side and twist to double it up, make sure you start in the middle of your first piece of wiring to ensure stability. (I hope that makes sense) Once I finished doubling up the wiring I secured it by going around it with the floral tape twice. 

I started by cutting the end of the flowers about one inch in length and putting them were I wanted them on the crown. Once I figured where I wanted them to go I used the floral tape and secured it to the wiring. Once you start going one way with the flowers you need to make sure you begin to go the other direction to ensure your crown is not just going one way. Adding larger flowers in between is a great way to hide any gaps that you may see. 

My finished Crown  

I made my crown the day before and stored it in a container by wetting napkins and placing them on the bottom and on the top of the crown and putting it in the refrigerator. It was perfect for the next morning and is still going strong in the fridge. 

Here is a awesome video tutorial I found.. Hope it helps!

Aloha Y'all,

Lauren

One year down and a life time to go

October 26, 2014

   Today marked Charlie and I's one year wedding anniversary. We started the morning driving to Halona Beach also known as Eternity beach were Pirates of the Caribbean 4, From here to Eternity, and some say Nicki Minaj's video starships, and a scene from 50 First Dates were also filmed here, but I am not certain. To get the beach you have to find the opening and climb down. It is sooooo worth it though! This beach is by far my most favorite on the island yet. 

  Charlie and I found the perfect spot and renewed our vows that we once said to each other on our wedding day. I can not even begin to say how much I love this man, I literally have no words... and if you know me, this does not happen often. We then drove to Kaneohe to enjoy a delicious breakfast at a tiny little cafe. Charlie and I have always loved miny golf, its our thing. So we played put put, and I gladly admit I won! Ha We spent the remainder of the day shopping and enjoying each others company. Charlie surprised me by taking me to the Top of Waikiki's Revolving Restaurant. This place is awesome. You go to the 21st floor of this building and step on to a revolving restaurant were you are able to see 360 degree views of Wikiki. We are both ordered the Filet Mignon and it was absolutely delicious! This is not a place you would just go to during the week its pretty expensive, but defiantly something that you should try for a date night. 

   My day was nothing short of amazing thanks to my wonderful husband, and I look forward to a life time of love and happiness.

Love is patient: love is kind: love does not envy: is not boastful: is not conceited: does not act improperly: is not selfish: is not provoked: does not keep a record of wrongs: finds no joy in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth: bears all things: believes all things. hopes all things, endures all things

CORINTHIANS 13:17

** I also put up a DIY flower crown tutorial on my DIY page

                                                                                                                                                               

Old Fashioned Chicken and Dumplings

I got this recipe a few years ago from my very best friends mother, who was like another mother to me. 

This is by far the best chicken and dumplings I have ever had and it's super easy!

Ingredients: 

Whole chicken
1 containers Chicken Broth
Salt
Pepper

Directions: 

This process takes a few hours so make sure it's something you have time to do. Normally a sunday works best for me. 
First you want to simmer the whole chicken in a deep baking pan. The time varies, but normally I let it simmer for about two hours. Once the chicken is cooked you will want to remove it from the pot and begin shredding the chicken. Keep the natural broth from cooking the chicken and just take a strainer to it. Add in the shredded chicken, and the chicken broth. Take some of the chicken broth and put it in a bowl. Add flour and stir until it forms into a dough. Flour the surface you will be working on and lay the dough on it. Flour your rolling pin and flatten out the dough. Cut small vertical strips with a butter knife. You are going to want to turn your eye up to medium heat now and wait for it to warm up. Once its warmed up, drop your strips in one by one. The broth will cook them and your dumplings will be complete. Bring it back down to a low simmer and let cook for just a little bit longer, this is when I had a little salt and pepper for flavoring...That's it now bring out some bowls, and I like to make some homemade butter biscuits to dip it in! 

I just made this yesterday and completely forgot to take picture as I was making it. I am sure I will make it again soon, and will post the pictures with it. 

Aloha Y'all, 

Lauren

Joint Spouses' Conference Hawaii 2014

September 27, 2014
(Late Post)

  This morning I woke up super early to make my way to Kaneohe for the spouses' conference. We started the day getting our itinerary,and a awesome gift bag filled with a beach mat, snacks, and a water bottle. Once we all received our things we went to the dinning room were we began eating breakfast. It was such a beautiful buffet with several types of doughnuts, fruits, beignets, breads and so much more. We left the breakfast area to board the buses that took us to our first workshop. The first workshop I choose to participate in was painting your own mini surfboards with CeCe Caldwell's Paints. I loved this workshop I am a huge fan of chalk paint and here I learned how to layer, distress, and so much more, it was amazing! We were even given a swag bag that contained chalk paint, primer, and several brushes.... needless to say I was in heaven. 

  My second workshop was portrait photography. Last year Charlie and I purchased the Canon T3i Rebel and I LOVE it. It took me forever to find the camera that had everything I wanted, and this one defiantly does. Anyways, for the class you bring your camera and she teaches you cool tips and tricks to get professional photos. We even had some models their to practice on with some photography equipment. My pictures will never be the same! After the second workshop we all went back to the Officers Club to enjoy a wonderful lunch and listened to the guest speaker Jill Rutan Hoffman. She was awesome, and gave an inspiring speech! Once we finished lunch, the volunteers handed each one of us spouses one by one our very own military coin as a trinket to take home. After lunch I went to my third workshop were I learned Hula- Hawaii's Dance. It was great to laugh and have fun with all of the spouses as we were trying our best to accomplish this difficult lengthy dance we had to learn haha. Not to mention being watched by people walking by! 

  My final workshop for the day was yoga on the beach. If you did not know this about me yoga is my all time favorite thing to do. I try to always make it a morning ritual for me when I wake up, so for this class I was truly in love. The view was breath taking. Just imagine mediating while looking at the beautiful scenery here in Hawaii. Let me just say GOD is good. The instructor that was teaching was fantastic, I had not felt that relaxed in a very long time. My day had came to an end, and I enjoyed every bit of it. I met so many amazing military spouses who all understood the hardships and overall dedication it takes to be a military spouse, and I was able to participate in some amazing activities. This was such an amazing experience and I hope other military spouses can enjoy it in the future!

                Yoga on the Beach 

                                                    Walking to my workshop

Aloha Y'all, 

Lauren

Spouse Spur Ride

October 4, 2014

This morning Charlie and I were up bright and early to leave for the spouse's spur ride! My wonderful husband came with me on his day off to take pictures of this entire event, so all of these photos are his. 

The night before Charlie and I were working on my packing list which included: 

• ACUS/BDUS or comparable
• Boots or other rugged footwear
• FLC W/IFAK
• Gloved
• Eyepro
• Earpro
• ACH
• Patrol cap or equivalent
• Camelback or equivalent 
• Pen and paper
• Towel
• Change of clothes w/Waterproof bag
• Sunscreen/Bug spray
• PT belt

We started the morning off with a few different briefings to prepare us for the day and then departed to the range in LMTV's. Our first event was the 9-Line MEDEVAC, were we learned how to properly get help to the injured. Our second event was learning Fiddler's Green and some CAV history. The next event was the live fire range where we were taught how to properly use the weapons and we got all geared up and hit the range. We were able to shoot M4's and let me just say all of the spouses on my team rocked it! This was by far one of my most favorite events, who doesn't love giving their all on the range? After the range we rucked marched using land navigation to our next event. The next event was LRC which is leader reactive Course. In this we had two different scenarios were we had to come together as a team and figure out how to get everyone to the other side with the equipment given. It was such a great team building exercise! Once my team completed our last LRC event we road in the LMTV's to complete in the firehouse obstacle course. In the obstacle course we had to flip a huge tire three times forward and three time back, low crawl in a field while the firemen were spraying everyone down with the water house, and then make it to the parking lot were we had to push a jeep. My team gave it everything they had and I could not be more proud! I can defiantly say after pushing that jeep my legs were complete jello and Charlie had to peel me off the grass. To finish the day we all met in the hanger were we were able to have a BBQ and accept awards. They also had a Kiowa parked for families to get in and explore (Charlie loved this because he was finally able to show me how to properly operate his aircraft).Over all the day was amazing, with WONDERFUL women, and the 2-6 CAV E troop spouse's officially earned their spurs.

The Beginning of the day

Shooting the M4

 

Riding in the LMTV

The beautiful scenery while shooting

 

First Aid Training

Ruck March

LRC

Firehouse Obstacle Course

Low crawling

 

Pushing the jeep

 

Dead after the obstacle course

 

The end of the day picture

Charlie showing me the Kiowa

Yay.. we earned our spurs! 

Aloha y'all,

Lauren