3 Weeks with My Marine and CRAZINESS!

I've been absent for a couple weeks, but I have a few amazing reasons why, 1. My handsome, stud of a Marine, husband came home! and 2. We FINALLY moved into our house. Here's to catch you up a bit on how we spent the 3 weeks we had together before Kyle left again this past Wednesday.  Unfortunately, what I've been hearing from many wives is that Hawaii is a fabulous place to be stationed, but your husband is never home...I'm beginning to realize that.  Anywho, not to make this a depressing post, I will share with you all how we spent our fast 3 weeks together.

Kyle graduated from AAV school on his birthday, March 29. I wish I had pictures, but they on his computer and he took it with him to the big island. But for those of you with Facebook he has an album from his time at school so you can look at them on there. :)  To prepare for Kyle's homecoming I wanted to make him a little treat.  For those of you who know Kyle, you know that he loves Funfetti cake and Funfetti cookies.  I was browsing Pinterest and found a Funfetti Cake Batter Buddies.  They. Are. Delicious. I made half the recipe from the link above and for the life of me could not find almond bark so I used white morsels instead.

Final result, computer pulled up to recipe, and ingredients :)

Like I mentioned in a previous post, Kyle and I wanted to get away when he got home, but he was denied leave, since they had to prep for PTA (can't remember what it stands for).  So we decided to do a little stay-cation in Waikiki instead.  We stayed at the military hotel called the Hale Koa.  It was beautiful! And very close to where my parents time share is, so I am very familiar with the area already :)  We had a wonderful time together.  Even though it was only 3 months, well 6 weeks, it's still an odd feeling being with your spouse again...I couldn't imagine a 7 month deployment! 

Instagram photo! Love this app.  Wearing my new suit enjoying a shave ice! Cherry and Pina Colada. Kyle doesn't enjoy shave ice so I was enjoying this all to myself and about 3/4 of the way through I spilt it on myself! :) Luckily, there was an ocean 100 yards away. 

Frozen yogurt is my new fav! We an ourselves for ourselves for our anniversary. De-Lish!

My friend and old rommate, Jenny, ran the Diva Half Marathon on Sunday morning (the day we left the hotel).  This is an awesome race! PINK everything! Also, the last mile you get a tiara and feather boa! I told Jenny I'd run it with her next year.  Help keep me accountable, folks! We walked to the finish to see her run the last 2 miles and cross the finish line.  Larissa (far right) and her husband, Bill, were also there to support Jenny! These ladies have been such a blessing for me.  

Coming home from the hotel we went to the BOQ (Bachelor Officer Quarters) to stay for 5 nights until we moved into our house.  Here is our view! Ocean and everything! This is the sunrise on the morning of our 2 year anniversary.

We brought Subway subs, Cheetos, and macaroni salad to eat at Lanikai beach for our anniversary dinner. It was beautiful with the moon rising between the Mokes.

So thankful to have had him home for our anniversary! 

MOVING DAY! Can you believe all of our stuff fit in 4 of those crates?! I wouldn't want to imagine how many crates it'd take for my mom and dad ;)

Inside our HUGE kitchen! And Kyle bought me the Starbucks in the left corner of the pic since he had to be at work that morning :) So sweet! 

Eating pizza our first night in and watching The Terminal

Commissary. Stocking up on food :)

The Saturday after we moved in, Kyle had duty :( He is the officer on duty, so if something bad happens then he is the one who is called (i.e. Lance Corporal So-and-So gets a DUI or put in jail for a bar fight). Kyle is responsible to let the next people in line know. I brought him Taco Bell for dinner and visited awhile.  He works from Saturday 7am to Sunday 7am.

This was the beautiful sunset I came home to after dropping Kyle off. View from our kitchen/backyard!

Kyle enjoyed planting in our front yard.  Making it pretty!

Here is our final product :)

We also made a few purchases of Craisglist. A big dresser for our bedroom ( I need to paint it), a smaller dresser for our room (need to paint as well) and then here was our day of Craigslist that didn't quite turn out as we'd hoped...Here is my Facebook post.  I don't really feel like writing about it again ;)

Worst. Day. Ever. Drove to Honolulu to buy a push mower and the lady sold it at her garage sale this morning before we got there. Bought a chest freezer at another garage sale and after driving a ways someone yells at us that the cord is dragging (still not sure if it works). Went to Lowe's specifically to get paint and forgot to pick it up after getting the other things on our list. Drive to pick up a super cute bench (craigslist) for our front porch and after driving 30 miles it decides to fly out of the truck when we are 1/2 a mile from base! Right then I started bawling my eyes out (and haven't really stopped since lol...about 45min ago). Then adding insult to injury, while Kyle went to pick it up off the road I turned his flashers on and then they wouldn't turn turn off. Plus, it scratched the truck and cracked a tail light AND when we unloaded the freezer it tore a hole in my cute shirt. What is happening to us lol?! We are not leaving the house the rest of the day in fear something might happen ;) I am really trying to laugh about it, but tears are still coming out :)

Kyle got his PS3 back and decided to play for about 7 hours one night with Greg Teune and two friends from college, Aaron and Andy.  While he did that, I organized our DVDs and BluRays alphabetically...all 300 of them! 

I also stained the top of our dresser in Dark Walnut by Minwax.  We bought this unfinished wood dresser in Virginia and are finally able to work on it now!

Kyle spray painting the dresser drawers. I've been keeping up with a lot of DIY blogs and a lot of them spray paint furniture.  We didn't have to sand it much before we spray painted with Rustoleum Heirloom White.  It's beautiful!

Here is the picture from Craigslist. I never took one in its original state.

Here is our finished product.  I distressed it a bit too, but it's hard to tell in the pictures. I'll take more once we get it in the house.  

Cute knobs from Hobby Lobby...boy do I miss that place!

We also painted our living room area! I love it! It makes it feel so much more homey :)

Not my favorite job, but glad we finished in one night :)

There you have it.  It was a quick 3 weeks with Kyle, where we tried to balance getting settled into our new, HUGE house and spending time together just watching movies and Game of Thrones (Kyle's new favorite HBO series).  We have the first season, but the second season just started.  We didn't want our time to be so busy with the house, so we tried to relax and do fun things too.  So now that Kyle is gone, well I guess there isn't any excuse to get the house organized ;) Especially since my dad is coming in 6 days! I need to prepare it for him...and I'll need his help with things too ;)

Our last week in Virginia...

Boy, did we have a hectic last week in Virginia! My parents flew in on the 23rd and Kyle and I picked them up from the airport at 9pm in DC and drove straight on to Philadelphia. It was a 3 hour drive, but it was nice to catch up with my parents on the car ride north. We spent Saturday and Sunday in Philly and we had a great time seeing historic Philadelphia. Here are some pictures from our trip:

Mom & Dad in Independence Hall in the room the Declaration was signed!

The Liberty Bell

Rocky Statue! 

The Birthplace of the Marine Corps

We went to Hershey, PA! The Hershey Factory was fun and had some tasty treats. :)

Kyle thought this was pretty funny. ;) Lancaster County is home to the Amish community.

Horse and Buggy!

On our way back to VA we decided to do a DC night trip! :)

Beautiful picture of the Lincoln Memorial

One of my favorite pictures! Standing in the Lincoln, looking at the Washington Monument.

D.C. at night is amazing!

The 3 of us went to DC the next day (Monday) to visit museums. :) Here we are in front of the Capitol.

Also on Monday, Kyle's parents, Larry and Rhonda, made it to VA! :) Monday was the last night we would have any pots, pans, dishes, silverware, etc since there would be movers coming on Tuesday to get our "express" shipment (things we would need first thing) off to Hawaii. And when I say express I mean a 45 day shipment! So to be a Suzy Homemaker I wanted to make something for our parents. I decided to make my chicken fajitas, which are delicious and Kyle's favorite! Here is the recipe if you'd like it:

(Not my picture, but looks very similar!)

Ingredients

•  2 teaspoon chile powder
• 2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
•  ½ cup water
• 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 whole skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into ½ inch strips
• 2 green bell pepper-cored, seeded and cut into thin strips
• 1 red bell pepper-cored, seeded and cut into thin strips
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 8-10 corn tortillas, warmed in microwave
• Salsa, sour cream, shredded cheese, shredded lettuce, for serving

Directions

• In a resealable plastic bag, combine chile powder, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, water and 4 tablespoons olive oil. Seal bag and shake until it is completely mixed.
• Add chicken, bell pepper and onion. Seal and knead gently to coat all contents. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
• Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a large nonstick skillet until shimmering. Empty the contents of the bag into the skillet and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are crisp-tender and the chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and stir in the limejuice.
• Serve in warmed tortillas and add desired extras (salsa, sour cream, etc.)

Tuesday the movers came to get our express shipment and were in and out in 30 minutes! It was quick, but it was only our kitchen things plus sleeping bags, snorkel gear, and some other necessities. :) Then we spent the day with family.

Wednesday was a LONG day. We had to be on base at 0700 for Warrior Day. At the end of TBS (The Basic School), they have Warrior Day, which is for family and friends. We were greeted by the Major of TBS and we watched a slide show of Charlie Company's time at TBS (I wish I had it to post on here). Then we went outside and they had all different vehicles lined up that the men used throughout TBS, along with weapons. They also had an AAV ride! This is the vehicle Kyle is going to be working with. It was a very bumpy ride and a little bit scary! But it was fun to experience it knowing that is what Kyle is working with. We also were able to shoot some of the guns the men used during training, which we all had a blast doing! Here are a few pictures of our day:

 The whole gang in a 7 ton!

In front of an AAV!

With Rhonda & Larry with our flak jackets and kevlars on ready for our AAV ride!

Here I am shooting an M16

Dad in the prone position shooting the SAW. He had fun. :)

After Warrior Day, we headed back to our apartment to get all done up for the graduation ceremony.   Kyle was definitely ready for this day! It couldn't have come soon enough for him. We both couldn't believe how quickly 6 months had passed. Graduation was a great way to celebrate Kyle's big accomplishment. I know he doesn't think it's a huge accomplishment, but I know the time he had to put in, whether that was in the field, at home working on an order, doing reading, or studying for tests. We're all proud of you Kyle! :)

 My handsome Marine.

With our parents.

Kyle walking across stage

Mandee and her kiddos Marcella and Maddox!

Not the best picture of everyone, but these are 3 other couples in Kyle's platoon who we enjoyed hanging out with.

After graduation, while everyone was outside taking pictures and celebrating, I realized, "Oh my gosh. This is probably the last time I will see some of these wives!" So, I hurried around and tried to find as many of the wives as I could to say goodbye. Luckily, we had a Recipe Party 2 weeks before that for a final farewell. It was fantastic! We made recipe books with each of our favorite recipes. When the books were made we had a party and brought a sample of our food. It was a wonderful idea! It was such a weird feeling knowing that these ladies I've spent so much time with and have become so close with in the last 6 months are going to be stationed around the globe. I am sure going to miss them! And I am so thankful for Facebook and Skype!

We were successful in taking a self-timed picture! Here are the majority of the wives and their kiddos from Charlie Company. 

The day after graduation (Thursday 30th) the movers came. They needed 2 days to pack up our things. The first day there were these 4 ladies who packed all of our items up and Friday there were 3 men who loaded all our items into the moving truck. Those were two long days and Friday was pretty rough...I had to say goodbye to my great friend Mandee and her kids, Marcella and Maddox. We were saying our "goodbyes" and it was such a weird feeling...not knowing if we would even see each other again! At the time, they didn't know where their permanent duty station would be. After about 5 hugs and lots of tears we said goodbye. And now for the amazing news...Mandee's family is coming to Hawaii!!!! :) :) :) I could not believe it when she called me and told me! Her husband, Stu, is deploying in April, so she isn't coming to Hawaii till October when he returns, but I will still have her and her kids with me for 2 years! :)

After packing up our stuff on Friday we said goodbye to Stafford, VA.  Both our families went into historic Alexandria and spent our last evening together walking around and enjoying each others company. The next day, Kyle and I were up bright and early, ready for our long flight/move from D.C. to Chicago and Chicago to Honolulu...where we now call home. Aloha!

My New Best Friend

This week Kyle has been working especially long hours because it is Range Week (I will make another post about that once I get more info on it from him). He usually is not home before 7:30pm and has to wake up at 3:30am.  By the time he gets home he is exhausted and hungry; the last thing he wants to do is wait for dinner to be made.

I received a 5-ingredient slow-cooker recipe book for our wedding and I recently started searching through the cookbook for recipes we would enjoy. I have tried a couple recipes so far and they have turned out delicious! My crock pot is definitely becoming my new best friend. I can figure Kyle will be home around 7:30pm and then count back the cooking hours and if he just happens to get home later, I can just leave it on warm and it's ready when he's home!

Here is what we tried last night:

Creamy Baked Chicken with Stuffing

* 8 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, divided
* 10 3/4 oz. can cream of chicken soup
* 1/4 cup water
* 1 cup crushed herb-seasoned stuffing
* Half a stick (1/4 cup) butter, melted
* 7 slices white American cheese

1. Lightly grease interior of slow cooker. Layer half of chicken in bottom of slow cooker.
2. Combine soup and water in a small bowl. Spoon half of soup mixture over chicken in slow cooker.
3. Layer remaining chicken into slow cooker. Top with remaining soup mixture.
4. Sprinkle stuffing crumbs over top. Drizzle melted butter.
5. Cover and cook on high 4 hours or until chicken is tender.
6. Place cheese slices over crumbs until melted.

 Variations: Since it's only the 2 of us, I only used 2 chicken breasts and then cut back on all the other ingredients to my liking and we thought it turned out just right!

Our ingredients, minus one chicken breast and cheese.

The chicken is in there somewhere!

And...the finished product! We liked our chicken with a little Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue Sauce to add a bit more flavor.

Love,

Britt