My trip to the heart of the USA

I made it back to my beautiful Hawaii - unfortunately my husband is still in Kansas. He is back in the States - though, that is the comforting thought.

Those of you who heard he got a broken foot, don't be alarmed. It happened in Kansas. What can I say - after three tours in four years and he got his ankle busted in Ft. Riley, Kansas, of all places.

So, this is him sitting in our temporary home of Candlewood suites - and he is actually cooking for me - broken foot or not. Don't get me wrong, I did do my share of cooking and all the cleaning. :-)

A week of practically sitting around and elevating his foot up 18 hours of the day, he was told to use it - put a weight on it - so there he is with crutches and aircast.

Now, he is walking around and even driving. Also, the physical therapist gave him a cane - so he walks like Dr. House and acts like him too at times - because they won't send him home.

I was in Kansas for two weeks and got to spend my birthday there. On the morning of my birthday, Keith had a doctor's appointment at 0700. So, we got up at 0530 and it was 44F outside - I had no sweater - nothing. Gosh, I missed Hawaii.

But, that evening my husband drove and took me to this steak place (I am not a girly girl and eat salad or what not, I am hearty eater - love my meat :-). Doe's was the place. I wish I had my camera to take a picture of the front of the restaurant and the cow (or was it a bull) and the big fork. It is a nice casual place - with very good food. I believe they have Francise's in 8-9 places. Thank goodness they don't do the singing and what not for birthdays. Keith would have been in trouble if they did that (he asked for it though).

The craziest part was they offer 1 1/2, 2, or even 3 pound steaks. And when it is over 2 pounds, you can share it and have it done at two different temperatures. What restaurant does that. So, needless to say, we ordered a two pounder and shared.

One place I didn't get to go is visit Dorothy. Well, there is a Oz museum in Wamego, Kansas. If you are ever in Kansas, here is a little map for you and let me know what it was like (exit 298 from I-70). I got the map from the museum's website. I do not think I will ever go that way - so, no visiting the Oz, I guess. Sorry Dorothy.

It is nice to be home - but I do hope the medical treatments and paperwork will get transfered to Hawaii soon enough and my husband will get home.

I am around!

Seems like it has been a while since I checked anyone's blogs including my own. Had a few comments and a few calls as to where I have disappeared to.

My husband is finally in the States. Hooray! But, we are stuck here in Ft. Riley, Kansas for the time being till he gets the okay to fly with a broken foot and all the medical records transferred and the treatments can continue at Tripler, Hawaii.

Please keep him in your prayers and hopefully he will heal soon and walk on his own (he does hate being dependent on practically everything and using crutches and of course, having the pain).

Keeping It Real!

I got tagged - to show my little apartment as how it is. That is shocking - it is a way to get a detailed tour of someone's place without getting there unannounced! It has been a few days since Angela tagged to see my humble abode (literally) - I have been packing and running errands and trying to get everything up to date and of course, shopping for tickets, hotels and what not - needless to say, it has been a bit crazy. But, I thought unless I do it today - I won't do it for a very long time and it might not ever happen. So, here it is:

This is what you see as you walk in the door of my apartment. Living area. There is a lanai out - but it is so close to the neighboring building - I am hardly ever out there.

My bedroom - kind of that is all that fits in there - a bed and two night stands and a dresser - which has all my clothes in it.

The spare bedroom - I lovingly call it "my piano studio" but my husband says it is a "catch-it-all" room. He is more right though. Yes, my keyboard is in there - but the rest of it is practically empty except occasional projects end up there waiting to be completed and space is kept bare so if any guests show up we can break open the inflatible mattress.

Dining area - well, the plant isn't mine - I am babysitting it.

Kitchen - nothing glamorous. Microwave is my best friend for the time being! And once my husband is home I perhaps won't step in there much. He is the chef in the family.

Bathroom - well, this one is full - but small. The other one is half - but has the laundry stuff in it and of course, closet for my husband's clothes.

Then, lastly, my kitchen sink. I just had some hot pockets - so plate is still there. Oops. Well, gotta wash that before I leave.

That is it - nothing fancy. Since I wasn't sure what rooms I was to do - I showed you every room there is. :-)

Oh, forgot to take a picture of my favorite shoes - but considering I live in Hawaii, it should be somewhat predictable - flip flops - I got one made by Clarks - it is leather with cloth straps that go between your toes - so much more comfy!

Then, my fridge is practically empty - so figured no need to show you a pic of that. :-)

So, whoever wishes to do this - it is scary but fun! Gives me a different perspective of what my place looks like... So, post a comment on mine and let me know when you do this - so I can go tour your place!

I got lucky!!

Well, I have tentaive info on my husband's return. So, I went on getting the airline, hotel and car reserved / booked. It isn't an easy or cheap task when you are doing it at the last minute. But, evidently I got lucky today. Was able to book last minute tickets.

Then, the hotel I wanted to get into indicated to have no available rooms as I checked online. So, I took a chance and called them - well, she had to do some manuevering I think. But, since we stayed there last year and perhaps, i sounded rather pitiful she put me on hold and voila, 5 minutes later I had a suite. No regular rooms. But, I am sure my husband deserves to have some space after being cramped up in tiny room with no basic amenities. And, hey, who am I kidding, I will enjoy the comfort as well. :-)

If you are affiliated with the military in any way, I am sure you know, there is a game of "hurry up and wait." So, I did the hurrying up part and got all ready to leave - just hope once I get there I won't have to wait too long to see him. There is nothing is certain until it actually starts happening.

Well, safe and fun trip for me!

Check this out!

Any of you who read Mongolian, go check out this site: shulegnairag.blogspot.com

Хуучин дэвтэр, энд тэнд хавчуулж орхисон хуудас цаасан дээр эвлүүлж орхисон хэдэн мөрөө нэгтгэж нэг цэгцлэх санаа минь энэ.

Өдөр судар нэр хаяггүй байх болов уу даа, ихэнх нь.

Been a while

It has been a while since I even checked my own blog out. :-) Well, I am still around and have been trying to keep busy.

Today, I made another purchase for the living room - coctail table with 4 stools. It looked very nice on the little flyer thing I get - but I wanted to go check it out and touch and feel and try it. I did and it was pretty good and the wood tone looked compatible to the couch I got. So, I purchase it. The four stools get under the glass top round table so it doesn't take extra space.

As you see, it is pretty big and takes most of the floor space in the living room - but I do like it. Thanks to my home teacher, Nate, I was able to get it up the stairs and into the apartment. Putting it together wasn't hard - just took a while since I had 40 screws 16 legs to put together. Taking out the trash afterwards was the craziest though and cleaning up the little white foams from every surface. :-)

Since I was working on home improvement project, I decided to put the new bedding on the bed. I got it in Utah last month. Washed it and just been keeping it! Finally it is on my bed. It is light- in color and in weight - so perfect for Hawaii.

Well, so here goes my home improvement of the day - well, perhaps for the year! :-)

One day at a time

Most of you know my husband is deployed and it is his third. So, you can imagine I get asked the infamous question: "How do you deal with it?" or "even more ridiculous one: "How can you let him go?" Well, I could say something equally as ridiculous and insult someone or I could get all emotional and cry hestirically as they might expect me to do, but I never really know what they expect me to say.

And yes, my answer is and I should say it out loud: "I take it one day at a time and live with a pride that my husband is serving his country and protecting my freedom along with yours."

Yes, I just want to say, I am very proud of my husband for he doesn't just do this because he is obligated, he wants to do it because he feels we shouldn't take our freedom for granted and we need to be willing to earn it. Needless to say serving his country is in his blood. I don't think he will know what to do once he retires from the military - if he ever does - even though he says he will enjoy the retirement.

Since most people don't think much or just being selfish when they ask that: I need to take it with a grain of salt. Thus, I have made it my game to get creative and find something sarcastic or just funny to say and come up with a different answer every time. Believe me, I have gotten pretty bland lately considering I have been asked few thousand times - sometimes more than once from a same person.