when he’s out at sea.

1. shop. There’s maybe like a few days, when he’s away that I just shop away. It’s definitely not the best thing to do, but there’s nothing like retail therapy!
2. leave the house a mess. Now the mess doesn’t last that long because I can’t function in a messy home, but usually the days surrounding when he leaves; total mess.
3. read all day. Yep, I will silence my phone, lay on the couch and just read all day. I can easily finish a couple books a day. I’m such a book worm.
4. go on adventures. Whether it be hiking or snorkeling, I’m bound to be hitting the hiking trails in the ridges or at the beach, swimming with some fish or a pod of dolphins.
5. try new hobbies. It’s definitely the best time to do so. At the moment, I’m tackling sewing and that’s something I need to perfect. And I’m throwing calligraphy in the mix.
6. sleep in the middle of the bed. Actually I tend to sleep diagonally (if that makes sense) when he’s gone. I have no idea how it happens, it just does.
7. leave the island. I either travel between Washington State and Big Island, just to spend time with my family. Being alone isn’t all that bad, but I rather be around my family most of the time. And these aren’t short trips either, they’re sometimes a month long.
8. do something to my hair. And usually it’s dying it and getting a plain haircut. For a while, I had all my hair dyed a red-purple color, which faded into a very lovely shade of brown. I got that natural ombre going on since I haven’t dyed it in over a year and a half. For my next hair experiment, I want to do a red balayage. Pinterest it, to be honest, I really don’t know the difference between an ombre and a balayage, but they’re pretty.
9. watch Youtube videos. I can pretty much do that all day. My favorites are proposal and pregnancy announcement videos. Those definitely get the tears flowing! And any Jimmy Fallon video to get me giggling!
10. bake. I love baking and trying new recipes. My new thing with recipes is eliminating massive amounts of sugar and butter, there’s quite a few alternatives, and it always turns out delicious. I’ll be making French Macarons today, wish me luck.

The Dreaded “D” … what in the world are you talking about? Is it something inappropriate?!


All you lovely military people know exactly what I’m talking about!

We’ve already done one deployment during his sea tour and was expecting another before we go on shore duty. Safe to say, it was definitely on our radar that it was bound to happen, we knew vague details of the when. But that was all a general/somewhat safe to share timeframe. I can’t even begin to tell you the amount of times that timeframe has shifted, more than I imagined could happen. Or maybe that’s just me being naive and it happens a lot more than I thought. Yet again, I can’t divulge too much information on the interwebs because there’s so much to it.

As of recent, there was a major shift and it goes well over our time of when we were suppose to set sails to another part of this world for our beloved shore duty that I’ve been hearing so many great things about. Let me tell you, I can’t wait until that day finally happens. It always seem so far away!

We’ve been getting a lot of questions of when will they be leaving? And boy that is the question of the century. The most common reaction that I get is well that means you get more time with him. Even though that is extremely true, it’s like peeling a band-aid off. It’s better to just get it over with as quickly as possible. It’s very rare for a deployment to get cancelled; it may not be happening now, but it will be happening. And I’ve always liked the saying, better sooner than later.

For now, work-ups will be happening and I’ll continue to venture around…

One of the best advice I can offer to military friends is to make friends outside of the military, it’s just a must! With the military life things can get stressful and raise your anxiety to an ultimate high especially with those lovely last minute notices or the never-ending deployment work ups. It’s always great to have your friends that know very little of the military world to kind of help you forget the madness of the living the military life.

As most of you know, volleyball is one of my passions and I played competitively for years. And I’m so happy that I found my little volleyball ohana on the island. They really are some of the greatest people that I’ve met and all of our time playing volleyball is something I’ll cherish for the rest of my life. Not only do I get to play the game that I love; I get spend my time with some really great people who love the game just as much as I do. Plus our time together is bound to be a hilarious one and full of food! We always go out to eat after we play, food and conversation. What’s not to love?!

Anyways, wherever you end up, join in on events outside of your community and meet new people. You’re bound to create some unforgettable friendships like we sometimes make in our military life.

WHAT OTHER GROUPS HAVE YOU MADE FRIENDSHIPS THROUGH?