Fill in the Blank Friday

I haven't done this blog link-up in ages.  If you're interested, head over to Lauren's blog, The Little Things We Do, and link up!

1. My favorite new blog of the moment is Casey's Blog,  We Took the Road Less Traveled .  Casey is an Air Force wife stationed with her beau here in Germany!  Who knows, maybe our paths will cross someday!

2. Something I am thankful for are the Veterans past and present that we honor today. 

3. Something that made me laugh this week was  this video (which most have probably seen on Facebook).  We love our little girl and her giggles!

4. An item that is currently on my wish list is one of those fancy, good cameras.  I also wouldn't mind getting my own Keurig for the house.

5. I am excited about  this long weekend.  We currently have reservations at Spangdalem Air Base, which is minutes away from Trier (Roman Ruins) and the Mosel Valley.

6. If I were a color I would be  yellow.  I like to think that others think I have a sunny personality.

7. My favorite way to spend a chilly fall day is by  enjoying some pumpkin spiced coffee or some comfort food (i.e. chili) while cuddling on the couch with Malu and watching movies.

Happy Friday and Happy Veterans Day to All!

Friday Stuff...on Saturday. Oops!

Okay...so I meant to make these posts yesterday, but we were experiencing computer problems and I didn't get to.  Better late than never, right?

I figured it'd be a great time to do Alicia's Friday Photo Flashback. 

Check out the photo I found to scan! 

Okay, this picture was taken back in the summer of 1999...when I turned 21!

Tomorrow...this picture will officially be ten years old.  Yup, it'll be my 31st birthday and it's kinda depressing thinking that ten years has gone by so quickly...and look how thin, somewhat muscle-y, and tan I was!  Can't believe it.

Last night, Malu gave me a birthday card outlining his plans for us this weekend--I thought it was so cute.  Among the things that he had planned included:  going to breakfast this morning (if we woke up in time), going to Best Buy to find me either a new laptop computer or a new camera (one of those high-speed, fancy-do kinds with the big lenses), going to see a movie (I've surprisingly been begging him to see 'Despicable Me' in 3D--is that weird), and then going to dinner tonight; with more to come tomorrow! 

How sweet is he?  Crazy though, I told him that I wasn't feeling like dropping hundreds of dollars for a laptop or camera at the moment--and I really don't.  I told him, I'd like to get my hair trimmed and some bangs instead...and then do everything else on his list. 

I LOVE HIM!

Now on to Fill in the Blank Friday by Lauren!

1.  My favorite thing about this week has been...having the office be so peaceful with everyone on block leave ( I pretty much had it all to myself ); and getting home to Malu at a decent hour every day!  We had movie night practically every night too, which has been fun.  A Hollywood Video store down the street is going out of business and is liquidating its inventory. So we bought tons of movies last weekend for $5 apiece--some for less!

2.  The weather this week has been...cooler than previous weeks--thank goodness!  The highs have been mostly in the 90s and we had some rain and overcast days--which I have enjoyed.

3.  The last (interesting) item I received in the mail was...the package with my Apron Swap stuff in it.  LOVE it!

4.  The last movie I saw was...one that Malu and I watched last night called Forever Strong.  If you like rugby, hot guys, and hot guys playing rugby...you'll love it.

5.  If I could do anything I felt like today, I would...probably go to a beach.  I'm dying to swim or just be near any body of water!  Come to think of it...it was on Malu's list to take me on post to swim at the pool!  Yay!

6.  As a teenager, I was...honestly very good, not rebellious and was very sheltered by my parents.  They never let me go anywhere.  It was a miracle I even had a boyfriend in high school. 

7.  I wish I could trade lives for the day with...Lucy.  It just seems like life is so much simpler when all you look forward to is daddy (Malu) taking you for walks, eating and laying around all day on the cold floor, or occasionally on some piece of furniture that she's not supposed to be on. 

Back at Fort Rucker in 2007

Hope you guys have a great weekend...and sorry for the late post :)

Fill in the Blank Friday: 4th of July!

I haven't done Lauren's Fill in the Blank Friday in forever!  And it's cool because today's all about the 4th of July!  So if you wanna participate, head on over to her blog, answer the questions and get linked!

1.  This weekend for the 4th of July, I'll be....with my hubby and friends.  We have two different get-togethers to go to, so it'll be tons of fun and as always, tons of food!  Yum!

2.  Fireworks are...necessary for the 4th!  I have yet to experience a 4th without 'em.

3.  Nothing says summer like...hanging out by a pool or beach all day, wearing flip flops and summer dresses, or having a Route 44-sized Cherry Limeade from Sonic on those especially hot days...and ice cream!!!

4.  My favorite summer memory is... hitting the road with my family.  We'd always go somewhere cool because there was always some family member or friend from out of town/state visiting us.  My absolute favorites were our trips to Disney World.  I soooooo wanna go back there right now! 

5.  My favorite thing about summer is...how long the days are, walking with Lucy and Malu at sunset, and the fact that my birthday is in the summer!

6.  Summer in a word is....refreshing.

7.  If I could choose to have summer or winter year round, I would choose...as much as I love summer, I grew up primarily in wintery states, and I love cold weather...so I choose winter.  I just feel like it's more comfortable to be in the cold and layer up than it is to be in the heat.  I mean, it's not like you can walk around naked in this kind of El Paso heat...but you really want to some days.  It's so unbearable.  I also run better in cold weather.

And let the 4 day weekend begin!  I'm supposed to be going to see Eclipse today.  Woo hoo!

Fill in the Blank Friday!

It's been a long week and a long day, and I am exhausted.  As a matter of fact, when I finally got home from work today, I crashed on the couch only to wake up about an hour ago to take the dogs for a walk.  Craziness!

Before Friday is officially over here in El Paso, I wanted to squeeze Lauren's Fill in the Blank Friday in! 

Today's theme is all about traveling, which is so appropriate for all the summer vacationing going on.  Oh, how I wish I was on a vacation of my own!   But those of you who have visited my blog before know what to do....if you want to participate cut, paste and answer these questions in into a blog post of your own and head over to Lauren's blog to get linked up!

1.  My dream vacation would be going to Greece with either my husband or my best girlfriends.  I've been dying to go to Greece ever since the Olympics and reading the "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" series!

2.  The best trip I've ever taken was to Europe in the summer of 2005.  My best friend Chrissy and I spent our R&R from Iraq visiting Germany, Italy, and France.  We lodged at Garmisch and took the Eurail from there.  It was the best ever!  And I can't believe I'll be going to Europe to live!  I wish I could post a picture or two of the trip, but they're on a disc at my house.

3.  The most important items to take on a road trip are a cooler full of drinks and your favorite snacks and foods, some magazines/books, a GPS, and a car safety kit complete with flares, blankets, tools, and jump cables.  Seriously, Malu made sure I got one of those bad boys a long time ago!

4.  The next trip I'm looking forward to is taking Vaiosina to meet all of her family in Colorado, Utah, Hawaii and Samoa.  Malu and I are planning to do this after he gets back from Iraq in the fall.

5.  If I had to pick one CD to listen to on a long trip it would be a mix CD with our favorites--island music, some Top 40, John Mayer, Jack Johnson, etc. We both like to bring music that we can sing to. 

6.  The biggest disaster I've ever encountered while traveling was locking my keys in the trunk of our Jeep on the way back from a trip to Colorado.  It was not long before I left for Iraq--around last October.  I was alone and at a rest stop 150 miles from El Paso.  I had to call USAA's roadside assistance to come to unlock the car.  The closest locksmith they could find me was in Alberquerque, NM--two hours away from the rest stop I was at.  It was late afternoon, around 3:30 and not too much longer from sunset.  Thank goodness it wasn't too cold, but all I had on me was a towel, pants, a t-shirt and hoodie and my cell phone, which I was also relieved to have.  It was so scary being the only one there at times, with the exception of a few questionable truckers.  And once the locksmith got there, the Jeep was unlocked in 2 minutes and off I went. 

7.  My favorite traveling memory is going cross-country zillions of times with my mom, dad, brother and sister.  We drove from post to post rather than fly and have been to over half the 50 States. 

Hope you guys have a great weekend and if you're traveling...may God be with you and your families and keep you safe until you return home!

Fill in the Blank Friday!

I just realized that I almost forgot to do my Fill in the Blank Friday! Just in time! Don't you just love the pictures that Lauren makes for these every Friday? I totally do!

You guys know what to do...just cut, paste, and answer these questions on your own blog and then head over to Lauren's blog to get linked!

1. The very best thing about the summer is the clothing--light, bright, and airy. Also gotta love wearing flip flops and going to and hosting barbecues. Yum! And one last thing...my birthday!

2. My first crush ever was a boy named William in the 6th grade. We went to Kalihi Elementary School in Hawaii. He even came to a family barbecue with me and it was at the beach. My family taunted me the entire time. It was humiliating.

3. This may sound really silly but I have several nicknames for Malu and one of them is "Ma-ma" for Ma-lu. He always thought it was weird to be called that, and it really is. I tried to stop, but I was just too far gone with it. He's heard it for so long that he's just used to it.

4. I squeeze my toothpaste from the middle of the tube and then always even it out when I'm done. Is that weird?

5. My absolute favorite comfort food is my mom's soup...in Filipino we call it sinigang. She makes it with beef and it's so yummy! I also love anything with pasta in it, as well as mash potatoes with my corn mixed into it and meatloaf.

6. A random fact about me is that although I'm a very social person and love being around people, sometimes I just want to be "emo" and be by myself. I like to be a loner sometimes and just stay home with my dog and lounge around in my pee-jays all day and not worry about a thing other than what's on TV next. Sometimes I like to do that for several days in a row and even through weekends. Malu and I just love to do that together when he's home. We're not trying to be unfriendly. We just like alone time. Ya know? Oh yeah, I'm OCD too...mostly about how clean the house is.

7. The one piece of technology that truly makes my life better and I couldn't live without is my cell phone. I can't remember what it was like to just have a land line phone!

Have a great weekend everyone! I know I will. Tomorrow, I'm going to the Armed Forces Day celebration on Fort Bliss and on Sunday, going to a barbecue at Leah's house! Fun times!

Fill in the Blank Friday!

Woo hooo....it's Friday! I love the weekends...more sleep for me! But also because it's Fill in the Blank Friday! And what's cool is that Lauren at The Little Things We Do--and uber-cute blog--has used movies as her question theme tonight. And it's so fitting because not too long ago, I returned from Hollywood Video with a few movies to last the entire weekend. I just love winding down by myself sometimes with my Lucy girl, a smell-good candle (vanilla cupcake scented--yum!) and some junk food. It's going to be a nice relaxing evening. Now on to the questions:

1. My absolute favorite movie of all time is The Notebook. But it shares the limelight with Twilight/New Moon and Robin Hood Prince of Thieves (with Kevin Costner).

2. My favorite movie as a child was the Sound of Music. My grandma had us watch it all the time (on beta max--remember that? pre-VCR!) when she baby sat us and we would sing all the songs with us. And my grandma is such a terrific singer. So all my cousins around the same age as me (on my mom's side) grew up on this movie too. We still sing the songs every now and then when we start to reminisce about good times in Hawaii (we lived there at the time).

3. The best movie quote ever was in "A Few Good Men" when Tom Cruise tells Jack Nicholson in trial "I want to know the truth!" and he says "You can't handle the truth!" It's so intense and I never tire of seeing that movie.

4. My favorite actress is...well, I don't really have one, but I do like Reese Witherspoon a lot. My favorite actor is...well, I don't really have one of these either, but I do like Patrick Dempsey a lot. I've been hooked since "Can't Buy Me Love".

5. The movie I could watch over and over is, believe it or not, Dumb and Dumber. I crack up all the time no matter how many times I've seen it!

6. My favorite movie genre is romantic comedy!

7. A movie I'd like to watch this weekend is...well, I'll just go with all the ones I rented today. And I haven't rented movies in a long, long time. They are: Brothers, Love Happens, Hotchie, and Did You Hear About the Morgans? Fun fun!

So I guess I should get to those movies, huh? Happy Friday everyone! And thanks to Lauren for making this a fun one!

Fill In the Blank Friday!

It's late and I'm supposed to be getting ready for bed, but I wanted to do Fill in the Blank Friday before Friday's actually over! Today's questions have to do with music because Lauren over at The Little Things We Do should be at a concert tonight on her side of the country. What a great idea. So here we go:

1. One song that always brings me back to my youth is.....although there are so many, any of the classics by Phil Collins or Genesis, Journey, even Michael Bolton. But the actual song that comes to mind right now is "Everything I Do, I Do It For You" by Bryan Adams. He was one of my favorite artists in middle/high school and this was the theme song to my favorite movie of that time, Robin Hood (with Kevin Costner in it).

2. My first concert ever was...New Kids on the Block when my family was stationed in Brooklyn, NY. I must have been around 9 or 10 and my sister and I were completely obsessed with this band!!! We had everything....t-shirts, pins, posters, even jackets. It was nuts!

3. If I could create my dream music festival I'd want these bands to be there...both my husband and I would enjoy a concert with John Mayer (love his music, not really him), Jack Johnson, Colbie Caillat, and Jason Mraz. And Ben Harper.

4. The best make-out/boot-knocking song song ever is John Mayer's "Body is a Wonderland", although I do not know this from personal experience. Malu can play and sing this song very well though!

5. The best concert I've ever been to was...Carrie Underwood. I've only been to, like, two concerts in my life so between her and NKOTB, I'd have to choose Carrie. And she really is great. Now if Taylor Swift could just get her happy little butt to El Paso!

6. A memorable music moment for me was...the day that Malu played (on his guitar) and sang the first song he ever wrote for me to me. We were in Iraq at the time and I had actually bought him the guitar he played it on as a birthday gift and had it shipped to Iraq. I still have the sheets of paper that Malu wrote the song on. The song is called "Finding the Light" and he still sings it to me from time to time.

7. The song on my iPod that's getting the most play these days is...I'm sorry. My iPod is not getting any play these days. But when it was playing, it was playing a lot by "The Dream". Yeah, I like all kinds of music.

Happy Friday everyone! Have a great weekend!

Fill In the Blank Friday!

Another week down! That means I get to do another one of Lauren's Fill in the Blank Fridays. It's kinda my time to wind down after an entire work week. I love it. Head on over to her blog to participate (or just copy, paste and answer the questions on your own blog) and to get linked to other participants. Here goes:

1. Today I am wearing (well, right now) Malu's XXL USC sweatshirt and my yoga pants. It's kinda sad. I've been wearing it every night for about a week and a half now. It's just so comfy. And I love being in his oversized clothes!

2. My favorite childhood food was anything local Hawaiian, since I did a lot of growing up there (i.e. rice, portuguese sausage, teriyaki anything,and spam!)and my favorite food now is anything Italian. You can't go wrong with pasta. I love it! I still love local Hawaiian food, and lucky for me, El Paso has a Hawaiian BBQ restaurant not too far from where I live. I get cravings every now and then. It's so yummy! If you've never eaten real local Hawaiian food, you have to do it! You won't be disappointed.

3. A day that I am too busy to wash the dishes or call my mom is a day that I am too busy.

4. The last movie I saw was "Precious" on video and the next movie I want to see is, honestly, "The Princess and the Frog". My sister is going to be bringing it to El Paso this weekend, so we'll get to watch it!

5. [One of] my favorite smells is (and this is weird) Lucy's paws because who would think that that musty smell would make me smile every time? I'm sure most dog paws smell this way, but I like to think that it is unique to my Lucy girl. I like to massage her paws at night before we go to bed. Don't worry...I always wash my hands afterwards.

6. A weird little quirk I have is I blink excessively...like, A LOT...and I blink hard. It's a bad habit I picked up when I was younger, I think after watching one of my cousins do it. There's a video from my senior year in high school. I was at an awards ceremony and I was called up to stage to be recognized for some scholarships and the entire time, I must have blinked a million times. My mom was in complete disbelief, because it was the first time she'd actually noticed. She told me to stop doing it. I still do it to this day. Sorry mom.

7. When I take personality quizzes, they always tell me that I am sociable, easy going and that I care for others. I like personality quizzes!

And this wraps up another Friday! Yay! Tomorrow, Lucy is going to the groomer first thing so that I can spend all day cleaning before the parentals and the sis get here. My unit goes to the field all next week, but I'll be in and out since this pregnancy doesn't allow me to stay out there overnight. Thank goodness for that! Anyway, I digress. Have a great weekend everyone!

Fill In the Blank Friday!

Looks like I underestimated how fast I could get up to 50 followers. It sure does help to do Friday Follow. I've seen so many great blogs and I get so many good ideas on how to make improvements to my own blog. Not only that, people are doing giveaways like crazy. I know I said I'd do my own giveaway once I got fifty followers, but dang, I may have to bump that to 75 so that I have time to give it more thought. Would anyone hate me too much if I waited? I hope not.

Anyway, it's Lauren's Fill in the Blank Friday! which I just had to make time for. It's always a great way for me to relax and unwind before going into the weekend. Here goes!

1. The best day ever was (even though I've had so many great days!) my first date with Malu. We met in Iraq and, of course, there weren't too many cool places to go on a date, even though it was never declared an official date. I'd asked Malu to go to church. Because all the islanders were deployed to this particular base (a reserve unit from Hawaii had brought Samoans, Hawaiians, Guamanians, Filipinos, and Puerto Ricans to Balad, Iraq) and there just happened to be a Samoan service. And we went together. I'd previously gone alone and the pastor was hell bent on finding me a Samoan husband. So when I walked in with Malu that day, I'd introduced them, and the pastor pulled me aside and said, "well, I think this is the one for you." I just laughed. That night, he and I sat on top of a bunker, under the stars, which was very romantic and unsafe at the same time as we got bombed on a regular basis. But we've been together ever since, so I'm glad we took that chance. And you know what? My dad took my mom to a Samoan church in Hawaii for their first date. And they've been together over 30 years now.



Malu and I with the Samoan Church Leadership on our last Sunday service in Balad, Iraq


2. My favorite meal of the day is breakfast because it gives me that jump start to get my day going! And I almost always have to have my Starbucks White Chocolate Mocha (now half-caff, these days).


3. This weekend is yet another chance to relax after a long, busy week of work. I intend to do a lot of NAPPING.


4. Never in my life have I been able to wink properly. Seriously. It also makes it hard for me to fire my weapon sometimes because I can't focus with one eye closed long enough. It sucks.


5. The only thing better than chocolate are hugs and kisses from either my hubby or Lucy!


6. I could really do with an hour long swedish massage. It's been a while since I've had one.


7. The most recent thing I bought myself is a cute shirt and some maternity jeans at Burlington Coat Factory last weekend. They were on SALE!

And there you have it! Tomorrow, I'm getting up early to take Lucy girl to the V-E-T. I can't even bring myself to say it. You should see how she starts shivering when I do.

Fill In the Blank Friday!

Wow! Thank goodness it's Friday. I must have been so excited that I almost forgot to participate in this week's Fill in the Blank Friday! I got this photo off of Lauren's cool blog, The Little Things We Do. She has other pictures of her dog posing with the cut out heart from this picture and he is so adorable! Anyway, I didn't get out of work too late tonight, which was unbelievable...and awesome. I've been spending these last few hours online, ordering shower invitation and other party stuff that I probably don't really need to buy, but hey. It's the first baby. We just might have to go all out. Well, I'm just letting you know, honey (in case you're reading this), that we are. Please? Ha ha. Anyway, without further ado...

1. One thing I must do before I die...is be a great-grandmother. I just want my own family to be that big one day. And I want to live to be that old! My grandma is a great-grandma three times over (soon to be four). But grandma, that doesn't mean you're old....just wiser! And she's still beautiful.

   

2. I would rather die than have to go back to the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California anyday. It was a month-long training in the desert/dustbowl of California (and not too far from Las Vegas) that I went to last September with my old unit in preparation for a deployment. It was not fun. The unit I'm in now might be going in October and thankfully, this pregnancy will prevent me from going (since I'll be in postpartum status, hence, non-deployable). If you want to learn about Fort Irwin for some god-awful reason, click here.

3. If I could give my younger self one piece of advice it would be (and I'm going with Lauren on this one)... to not worry so much about what other people think of me. I think I worried to much about this way back then that it influenced certain decisions that I made and eventually regretted. That, and to plan ahead and not get so caught up in the here and now. That's so easy to do--and so is falling in love so easily. Ugh...we all know about that one, don't we ladies! Yeah, hey younger self...don't do that.

4. If I won the lottery tomorrow... I'd put in a pass for the weekend and go back to Colorado to celebrate with my family. I'd buy them a new house and probably one here in El Paso (a bigger one for sure). I think people in the Army that win the lotto tend to get out (not sure if the Army just puts you out, but I've heard that before. it's sad...as an Army HR officer, I should probably know this). I wouldn't want to leave my job, but I would like to go on a vacation (and would probably be denied). But I'd make huge donations to different places, and stick the rest in the bank and invest. I'll never win the lottery though. I don't ever buy tickets.

5. The best surprise ever...this entire pregnancy has been one big surprise. From the time I found out (read the story here), to finding out just yesterday that we're truly having a girl, and to this morning when I discovered that I am 19 weeks and 1 day along. Salamasina's due into this great world on July 29th.

6. My biggest fault is...well, I have many. One big one is that I'm a complete and utter workaholic. Or maybe I'm just a stayaholic, which means I just find reasons just to stay at work (not necessarily to work) or just to stay for the sake of staying; or because my bosses stay at work late (which I've been accustomed to for most of my career as an adjutant). I guess I just got used to it. But really, I love my work and I don't know what I'd do without it. Heck, half of what I've achieved professionally has been because I work extra hard. But it's a sickness, really. Before I found out I was going to be a mom, I really didn't know who I was without my job. When I'm on leave, I work (I either stop into the office if I'm in town, or work from the Blackberry when I'm not). When I'm at lunch with friends, we talk about work (perhaps all my friends are workaholics as well). Ever since I got pregnant, this has changed (slightly) and I should probably be thankful. Very rarely do I ever stop to smell the roses. And I can't be like this once the baby arrives (which causes me to worry). I really do think it's hereditary. I get it from my mom. And Malu is a workaholic too. Craziness.

7. My biggest strength is that I'm a people person and I've been told many times that my enthusiasm is infectious. I've also been told that my perkiness is sickening, especially at the start of a work day, but whatever. I can talk to random strangers with ease. I just love meeting new people--which does wonders for my job and networking. Malu is also a people person. It's one of the things I love about him.

And there you have it! Wow...now I'm exhausted. I hope you guys enjoyed that. Don't forget to stop by Lauren's blog to find out more about Fill in the Blank Fridays!

Fill In the Blank Friday!

Lauren of The Little Things We Do has a cool blog and she does Fill in the Blank Fridays. It's pretty easy. She sets up statements where you fill in the blanks just so she and some other bloggers can get to know you better! Go to her blog to try it out! Thanks to Mannland 5 for directing me to her blog!

1. When I'm nervous... I get flushed and I feel a burning heat all over. I sweat too. Gross.
2. My favorite item in my closet is...nothing right now really. I haven't unpacked any of my clothes and the clothes I do have are still in my suitcase (or in the hamper). Pathetic.
3. Watching trashy reality TV...is not something I'm really into.
4. My favorite childhood memory is...traveling with my family all over the United States. We used to drive everywhere and have pretty much covered over half of the 50 states.
   
5. Something you may not know about me is that I am terrified of passing big trucks/semis on the highway/freeway. While on the road with my family, when I was old enough to drive, I'd attempted to pass a semi who didn't see me trying to do it. So it started to come into the lane that I was driving in. I was about the third of the way into the median (good thing there were no guard rails or poles in the way) and repetitively honking the horn until the driver finally saw me. He quickly moved back into his lane and me into mine. We all screamed through the whole thing. It was a close call. I've been a terrified highway driver ever since.
6. A true friend will stick by you through thick and thin...even when you've had some bad moments (true friends....forgive).
7. Something I hope people think of when they think of me is that I almost always put others' feelings and wishes before my own. That I'm supportive and caring. Gosh, hopefully people think I'm pretty cool :)

So Happy Friday everyone! I'm trying to get motivated to make my baked goods for this weekend's OCSA Bazaar. But I'm too tired. And what's sad is that I'm not really baking...I'd planned on making Rice Crispies Treats (my fave). Ummm.....yeah....I'm going to bed. I'll do it first thing in the morning. Pathetic.