The Hunger Games

Back in the Spring of 2009 I was student teaching in an 8th grade classroom and had a pivotal moment.  There were a few students who were a part of a reading group to help improve their reading comprehension.  After a few chapters, two of the girls came running up to me and told me, "Oh my gosh! Miss Adams (I was still Miss Adams then), we are reading this awesome book! It's called The Hunger Games."  After that moment, I went out and bought The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and my life was changed. :)

Ever since I finished the book AND reading the last two of the trilogy (which I also, highly recommend!), I kept Googling "The Hunger Games movie" and the only results I found were speculations of a movie or the "talk" of a movie, but there was no director, writer or cast.  That is until a year ago! :)

And FINALLY after a long-awaited 3 years, I was able to watch The Hunger Games movie...and it DID NOT let me down! :)  It was by far, one of the best books-to-movie I have ever seen! I've heard some people say it did not depict the book, but I thought it stayed as true as possible to the book and it was just what I expected.

I went to the movie with my roomie Jenny and our friends Bill and Larissa.  Jenny finished the book at 2am this morning and Bill is already on the second book.  Those of us who read it thought it was great, and Larissa thought it was great as well! :)

Jenny and I are ready with popcorn in hand!

Here is a preview of the movie for those of you haven't heard of it or are like me and you just want to watch it again. :)

Hangin' with the Girls

Last Tuesday I had a blessed evening with some wonderful, God-loving women.  We went to a great restaurant in Kailua called Buzz's Original Steak House.  It will definitely be a great place for me to take all of you when you come to visit.

Larissa, Amy, Angie, me and Jenny.  (Larissa, Amy and Jenny I met at bible Study on base and they've been such a blessing)

Meet Jenny, my roommate! :)

Then on Thursday, it was Valerie's birthday.  She is a new wife to the island and she started going to Bible Study.  Since she doesn't know many people, Jenny and I took her into Waikiki to celebrate her 27th birthday.  We had some wonderful tanning at the beach, then lunch at The Cheesecake Factory, and some shopping at the International Market Place.

She had a delicious cheesecake all decorated for her birthday.

Valerie and I at the beach in Waikiki.  Jenny and I got her a lei for her special day.  I love leis! Friends and Family: Be prepared to get one whenever you come! :)

Tornado in Hawaii!

The last month has shown to be a very wet winter for Hawaii, but yesterday morning and the night before proved to be one of the craziest night and morning of weather I'm sure Hawaii has ever seen.  And I got to experience it! It started raining the evening of the 8th around 7pm and did not stop till around 5am when it started hailing.  Hail in Hawaii! WHAT?! It sounded SO loud from my bedroom, but I was too tired to walk upstairs to look outside.  After seeing pictures my friends posted I wish I would have!  Enjoy these amazing pictures!

This is some of the hail.  On average it was the size of a quarter and in some areas it was the size of a golf ball!

This is a funnel cloud that the MP's from base had seen and took a picture of.  This is amazing to see in Hawaii!

Here is a water spout that started in Lanikai.  It was going 60 - 70 mph and eventually came on land and turned into a tornado.  It took the roof off a few homes and caused some other damage.  Lanikai is a very ritzy neighborhood.  

An amazing photo! This is Lanikai Beach with amazing lightning bolts shooting towards the water.  Amazing.

We are no longer homeless!

Hooray! Yesterday I received the phone call we have been anxiously awaiting for since we moved here October 1st! WE. HAVE. A. HOUSE! :) We are so stinkin' excited! When we moved here we were told we would have a 1 to 4 month wait until we would be in a house.  Well, we will be moving in on April 5th into our new home on base...exactly 6 months and 4 days after coming to the island.  Even though God had us wait for this home, I know He was doing it for a reason.  I was blessed to live with another Marine wife while our husbands are away and the timing was perfect!

Also, I couldn't resist but drive by our future house since I had the address...and I took pictures! :)

Our future 3 bedroom home!

Street view.  Our house is about 3 down on the right with the truck parked in it.  You can see the ocean!

Kyle will be coming home on Friday, March 30th.  He requested leave from his Captain, but he was denied. :( He has 33 days of leave, so he wanted to take a week of work off, so we could go to Kauai to spend some special time with each other and celebrate our 2 year anniversary on April 3rd.  BUT...unfortunately we won't be able to do that.  Instead, I decided we should spend the weekend he comes home in Waikiki for a little staycation.  There is a military hotel down in Waikiki that we decided to stay at with an ocean view room.  We are both very excited to see each other again and spend it at a beautiful hotel downtown.

The Hale Koa is the hotel with the two buildings on bottom right

That Sunday, March 1st, we will head back to Kaneohe grab our stuff from Jenny's and head to the BOQ (Bachelor Officer Quarters) for 4 nights until we move in to our brand new home!  Which, I might add is ACTUALLY brand new!  The family who has lived in there moved in 4 months ago after it was built.  And judging by where the house is set (sorta on a hill), I think from the upstairs we MAY have a view of the ocean! PRAYING we do! :)

Crazy, but Not-So-Crazy Life

Sorry I have been away from blogging over the past month!  I truly want to become a “blogger”, but I am having such a difficulty in my crazy, but not-so-crazy life.  Am I making sense? :)  I will fill you in about what’s been going on in this life of living with a fun roommate in Hawaii, being jobless, doing homework, watching Netflix and visiting Oregon. 

On January 31^st, I went to PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel) like I do every single Tuesday morning.  This particular Tuesday I was invited to go out to lunch with a group of women.  I drove a woman named Jenny to the restaurant we were going to eat at.  Her husband is deployed to Afghanistan and Kyle is away, so we were discussing how difficult it is to have our spouses away and I was asking questions about how different it is to have him in a combat zone.  We were chatting away about how lonely we both were and all of a sudden she blurted out, “Move in with me!” I turned to her thinking, “Girl…I barely know you!” :)  We started talking more and later that day I talked to Kyle and decided I should put in our notice to move out of our studio…so I did! 

Two days later I moved what little of what we had over to Jenny’s beautiful home in Kaneohe, which has a magnificent view of the bay.  I stayed with her for five days, until I flew home to visit family.  But within those five days we got to know each other much better.  We both are taking Masters courses online, we both have curly hair, we both enjoy working out and do it together now, and we both love to lounge around and watch Netflix.  Recently, we finished season 1 and 2 of Downton Abbey.  And we are in love! I know many of the female Olaen cousins watch it, so I recommend it to the rest of you!

The view from Jenny's lanai of Kaneohe Bay

As I mentioned, I was able to fly home for just under three weeks.  It was a wonderful, relaxing time to spend with family and I was able to see KYLE! :)  Here is a recap of a few things I did while home:

Snowshoeing with my parents and Larry, Darcy, Josh, and their new dog Stella

This was after Dads and my 8 mile run the straights and downhills/walk the uphills with the dogs. I did a few nice walks with Dad while I was home.

I was able to go down to Springfield to visit Megan and Greg and also meet up with some relatives.  Thanks again Aunt Linda and Uncle Dennis for dinner at Outback!

Kyle's first time holding our niece, Macie.  She seemed to really love him :)

I was so happy to finally see Kyle after 5 weeks! What a handsome guy ;) We had a busy 2 1/2 days filled with seeing people, but I'm glad I was able to see him again.

The Adams Family. We had professional pictures taken this day as well, so I'll post those when I get them! I don't have the camera that got the Durant family (so someone email it to me please!) 

The roommates reunited! Plus their wives and fiances. We were so blessed to have them take time to come out to dinner.  Kyle hadn't been home since last March and desperately wanted to see all of his friends.  Thanks for making it happen guys!

When these guys get together you never know what could happen ;)

While I was home I was lucky enough to go out with some cousins to celebrate Sarah's birthday! We had delicious Lebanese food and they gave her a free dessert, princess hat and played a birthday song over their stereo system :) (Sorry your eyes are closed Janell!!!)

Sorry again for those of you (if there are any of you ;) ) who check my blog and haven’t seen any new posts!  I’ll try my best to post before a month goes by again! AND…be praying because we are the next ones on the housing list to get a house! But…I’ve been waiting for a phone call to tell us we have a house and it’s been over 2 weeks now.  So, as you can imagine, I am going insane waiting a tad bit anxious!