Hawaii Vacation

These are pictures of my week-long trip to Hawaii. It was bliss!


View from the room.

Fire dancer from the Luau I went to. He is the 11 year-old children's division champ of the world!

Dancers from the Luau

My brother learning to hula at the luau.

L'aie, Hawaii Temple.

Matsumoto's Shave Ice. Best in the world!

Plants from the fern grotto. Gives you a little perspective....

The Fern Grotto on the Island of Kuaui.

Pretty flowers on the island of Kuaui.

You might recognize this valley from the movie of Jurrasic Park. No dinosaur sightings...maybe a few geckos...but hey, nobobdy got ate!

One of the many blowholes at the islands.

At the windiest place on Oahu.

My brother's fun at the beach.

At Bellow's Beach.

The family looking at the ocean.

Tim in front of the USS Arizona.

USS Arizona Memorial and the USS Missouri. The start and the end of the US involvment in WW2.

Catching Up

I've been neglecting my blogging. I am truly sorry. I'll catch y'all up through pictures!



I went to the annual Air Show at Scott AFB (IL). The Blue Angels were the hit of the show!



I participated in my first 5K at the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon. The very first 5k ever for the event.


I've been working for a service organization called Americorps. This is one of the big service projects we participated in. It's call Paint the Town. Delilah (the radio host) showed up to paint downtown Belleville, IL.

With Americorps my normal duties are tutoring 7th and 8th graders at a local junior high. I was asked to coach the bowling team. This year was the first year the school has participated in bowling...ever! Which means I was the first bowling coach at the school...ever! I had a blast as a first time coach. This young lady took 7th in the girls finals (individual) and all the teams, both boys/girls Varsity and JV did really well for the first year. Yay!

My newest adventure is that I'm in the process of buying my first home! Yep, you read that right. I will be a homeowner! I wasn't actually looking seriously and then this fell into my lap. I will close on it sometime this month. Wish me luck that nothing goes wrong.

Katy Perry - Firework

This is my new favorite song.

Happy Halloween!

This was my costume this year. I thought it was a clever idea. Can you guess? I was a 'mom' because I had eyes in the back of my head!

My First "Real" Afghan

I finally made my first afghan. I always wanted to make one since I learned how to crochet several years ago. Last christmas my grandma woolf taught me how to make a granny square. I had some leftover yarn and went at it.


This is when I finished all the individual granny squares.

Here are the square stitched into rows.

Finally! The finished afghan!

On a Roll....

Okay, not to scare anyone or gross anyone out but the following pictures are showing how I spent the day before valentines day. I am okay. Just a 'rug burn' on the elbow a bone bruised shoulder and typical bruises from the seat belt. Plus a bruised ego, I though I was a pretty good driver...not great...but pretty alright.













This is the same elbow over a month later. I think it's healing rather nicely. Bumpy but better than before.

The Adventures of Koozie

Here are some videos of Kooie that I think y'all might enjoy!