Anchor Suitcase

To all you DG's and anchor enthusiasts - eat your heart out. My mom wins major brownie points this year as she had my Christmas present sent to me early. It is an adorable suitcase covered in anchors! Perfect for holiday traveling. The only problem is - now I want the whole set!

Golden Curry

My mom would tell you that I have never been a picky-eater. It was never really an option growing up and I have always had an adventurous side: I am willing to give something a try at least once. If I don't like the food I figure that is just fine, at least I gave it a chance. However, as I have gotten older my taste buds seemed to have changed a bit and things that weren't previously my favorite have really grown on me. One of these is Japanese curry. When I was younger my family hosted several Japanese exchange students and I also traveled to Japan as a teenager. I think that the more exposure I had to Japanese curry the more I have come to like it. I have been craving some and last night I decided to make some for dinner. It turned out delicious and I wanted to share some of my cooking adventures!

Snorkeling Adventure

This past weekend Doug and I decided to go out to the Ko Olina resorts that are only about 15 minutes away from our house. There are several beautiful lagoons for swimming and snorkeling. We have gone there a few times before but this time we had an underwater camera to capture some of the fun.

Dole Pineapple Plantation

One of our first adventures together on the island was to go to the Dole Pineapple Plantation. It was fun to tour the plantation and explore a new part of Oahu.

Pineapple Plant

Elizabeth is such a sweetie :) - Pineapple that is!

Doug enjoying some pineapple ice cream

The Dole Plantation is getting ready for Christmas!

It's Beginning to Feel a Lot Like Christmas!

Cross-stitched stockings my mom made for us

Stockings that Kathryn gave us - there is even an adorable one for Beatrice

Our Christmas tree

This weekend Doug and I decided to get our Christmas decorations out and put up a tree. This is one of my favorite times of year and I love decorating the tree. We collection ornaments from all the places we have visited and it is so much fun to look through them and take a trip down memory lane together. Doug summed it up best by saying "Wow, we sure have done a lot together!"

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and families! This year Doug and I are both so thankful to be together after so many months apart. This really was a special holiday for us. We celebrated on Thanksgiving day with the Berger's but we also decided to have our own dinner at home for the two of us.

Welcome Home

After four months of being underway Doug made it safely to Hawaii on November 15th. There were many wives and families present to say "Aloha!" and welcome the USS North Carolina to Pearl Harbor. Kent and Kathryn's trip to Hawaii happened to overlap the arrival and they were able to share in the excitement of the homecoming activities.

Welcome Home sign outside of the gates to Pearl Harbor
Kent and Kathryn on our harbor boat tour to meet the submarine!

I was so excited! I spotted the submarine (little dot over my right shoulder!).

Kent came up with a very clever lymric to welcome Doug to Hawaii.

We pulled up right next to the submarine in the harbor - such an amazing experience.

We were so excited to see each other! Doug had been gone from home for four months and we hadn't seen each other since my visit to Kings Bay, GA two months ago.

I am so thankful that Doug made it to Hawaii safely. Our family is now complete and we are really enjoying spending time together and exploring our new home.