MP Ball

On Thursday the 22nd we went to the Military Police Ball. It's a formal event they hold yearly for the MP regiment... More military 'fun'. It was held at Turtle Bay Resort, you know the place where they hold the PGA tour each year... at least I think it is the PGA tour, some golf thing anyway... The soldiers dress up in their dress uniforms, and the spouses wear gowns, it's a lot like prom attire :D They have a nice dinner, and some entertainment, and a guest speaker. It was my last time ever wearing the Army uniform since my last day in the Army was today. We had fun, it was a memorable moment, AND we got pictures of Alan and I in our Class A (dress) uniforms together since we do not have any. (Bonus: pictures of me outranking Alan :D). So, here are some pictures.

Before we left the house By the beach
With Jennifer

At the dinner table

Leaving Turtle Bay

I took the center piece home :D Plus we got to keep the champagne classes, don't worry Lala, we had Martinelli's sparkling cider :D

Katie

I got to see an old friend today! Katie is spending the summer in Hawaii, and she is from my hometown in Utah. Her sister and I were on the Drill Team and were in the same graduating class, and Katie and my brother are friends. She is staying in La'ie where the temple is, and will be here until August. I picked her up yesterday, and we went to dinner and a movie with my husband, and she stayed in my guest room last night, and I dropped her back off today. It takes about 40 minutes to get from my house to where she is staying, so she is pretty close, and I hope to get to spend more time with her. It is so nice to be able to see people from home. Here is a picture I took of us this morning.

This picture also debutes my new haircut. I got it cut last week, but havent taken a pic of it since. It was pretty long, and I cut about 12 inches off. I guess I cut it to celebrate my release from the Army. :D I am no longer a soldier, and would never have gotten away with my hair cut like this while I was active duty Army. So yeah, here is to catching up with old friends, and the new do, what do you think?

I start my new job at the Education Center Monday, I will keep the blog updated as I start this new part of my life....

~Julie

Scary Gecko....

So, in Hawaii there are all sorts of animals running around... There are wild chickens running all over the road, I see wild boar/pig things on the access road coming to the base I live on, and various other things that run all over Hawaii, or maybe just in the country part... Anyway, there are these gecko/lizard things that climb all over the house. I see them on my windows, they play on my lanai, and have a good old time running around outside the house. Occasionally one will get inside the house, and I will have to take appropriate measures such as screaming, running around the house in fear, calling for Alan, you know, typical girl-scared-of-the-crawly-thing stuff... Well, when Alan was in Iraq, I would get the neighbors to come get rid of them for me, and since he has been back, there has only been one instance of these scary lizards in our house which Alan took care of immediately. I have always been fortunate enough to not have to deal with them alone, until today.

My gecko encounter came at the worst possible moment. Alan was at work, it was almost two o'clock in the morning, and I was getting ready to shower and go to bed. I had the shower water turned on, and I had just gotten in the shower when I turned around and there, right level with my face, climbing on the clear plastic shower curtain, was the freakish lizard. I SCREAMED, jumped out of the shower, and tried to figure out what to do. I was wet and not dressed, and it was 2 AM. Alan was gone, the neighbors were asleep, and I needed to shower. I tried to come up with an idea to NOT have to catch him, but I had no other choice. So, I got a cup that had a lid, went into the bathroom and was prepared for war. He was still clinging to the shower curtain, so I shook him off of it, and he fell into the bathtub. I hurried and stuck the cup over his body, and pulled him up the side to put the lid on top. I actually managed to transport the scary gecko from the bathroom to the lanai where I set him free, all the while holding the cup as far away from my body as I could.

The whole experience was very traumatic for me, I am actually surprised I made it out alive... I did manage to take a picture of this big scary beast before I set him free, isn't it terrifying??? BLECH, times like this really make me appreciate the men in my life... :D

**Note, I referred to the gecko as he throughout the story. Seeing as I have NO idea how to identify female freaky geckos from male freaky geckos, I assumed that this one was a boy. It would be sad if I was afraid of a girl gecko... :D

Wiamea Falls

So, We actually got to go on our hike today. Alan works the mid shift 10pm-6am, and instead of sleep all day, he got up early so we could go on our hike!!! It was fun, I had been there before, but Alan hadn't and I have to admit, when we got to the top, the waterfall was VERY small, it hasn't been raining a lot lately, and I guess that's why... When I had gone last year, it was huge! Oh well... we will just have to go back in the 'winter time' when it rains a lot... The hike itself was nice though. The weather was perfect, there were a lot of different plants and animals, and it was beautiful! We also got to see lots of peacocks! Here are some pictures...

One of the peacocks
Us at the tiny waterfall...

Mama ckicken with her baby chicks

Hiding in the trees :D

Pictures of my new Nephew!

Jenna finally sent me pictures of little Reilly! He was 6 pounds and 14 ounces and 21 inches long. He is such a cutie!!! I LOVE his dark hair! I am going to go home for a week in June to carpool from Arizona to Utah with Jenna and Reilly for my Moms wedding and Reilly's baby blessing, so I will have lots of time to see him! I am SO excited!!! I will also get to see my very best friend Melanie and her newborn baby which is a nice bonus!!! I always LOVE to be back in Utah, and can't wait to get there!

~Julie

FRUSTRATION!!!

Once again the Army has pissed me off. Surprise! So, let me vent... Our two year anniversary is this coming Sunday, the 11th. Last year for our anniversary, he was in Iraq, and we never had a honey-moon, or wedding for that matter to begin with.

So, last month I was planning something big for this year. Alan got his leave request ready, and I was looking into booking flights and hotels to go to Maui or Vegas for a week or so, to just get away for a bit and celebrate us. The next week, Alans company told him he was going to WLC, and when he asked about his leave, he found out that the paperwork had gotten tossed at the bottom of a pile of papers and forgotten. So much for that idea.

Then I got to thinking that most companies usually give four-day passes to soldiers after WLC, so maybe we could just go spend the weekend in Honolulu, which is the same island, but at least still away from home. Alan asked about a four-day pass and was told that his company 'usually only give three-day passes', but they said they will see what they can do. I guess that got forgotten too, because when Alan came back from WLC, sure enough he works mid-shift Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, the 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th. So, our anniversary plans were SQUASHED before they had even begun in the first place. So, I decided, no problem, we could just do something smaller together since they were going to give him Thursday and Friday off.

Yesterday we went to dinner and a movie, and tomorrow we WERE going to hike this trail on the North Shore called Wiamea Valley that leads to a gorgeous waterfall. Once again, our plans were SQUASHED! The Army is ridiculous about little details, and Alans company wants to make sure that he meets the height and weight standards, and not overweight, no big deal right? This process only takes 30 minutes MAX! Well, with the Army, nothing is painless. They will not give him a specific time they want to weigh him, and told him to 'stand by' which, in army speak, means wait around all day for nothing to happen until they decide to call him. We cannot even go for a stupid hike without the Army messing it up!

So, recap... Our anniversary plans went from:

A week in Maui/Vegas
to
A four day weekend in Honolulu
to
Dinner/movie, and a nice day hike
to
Dinner/movie/sitting around and waiting for the Army to call...

Thank goodness we got dinner and a movie in early enough! You know what else? I bet that no one is going to call him tomorrow to weigh him. This has happened several times before, he gets told to standby for nothing, NOTHING to happen, and our whole day is lost...

Next year on our anniversary, we are planning to get sealed in the temple, so hopefully, the Army will be able to understand and give him some time... AWOL anyone?

Julie

Alan is home!

Alan graduated from WLC today! I am so glad to have him home again!!! Here are a few pictures, I didn't get any good ones of him on stage accepting his diploma, but there are some good shots of him sitting down, and singing the Army Song...


Later!

Jenna had her baby!!!

On Monday the 5th, my Sister had her baby! She named him Reilly Julian McMichael, his middle name is after me!!! I am so excited, and can't wait to see pictures! Don't worry, for you avid readers, I will post pictures here. I am an Aunt! Well, technically I became an Aunt the day I got married since Alan's older brother has a daughter, and has since had a son, but this is the first on my side of the family, so it almost feels like I am a new Aunt. I wish I was in Arizona with Jenna, but luckily my mom got to Jenna's house just in time to take her to the hospital! It is hard having family spread out so far, I cannot wait until Alan gets out of the Army, (I am done on the 24th) and we can retire to Utah, or some central location between families since his in in Texas...

Until next time...
Julie

Closet Remodeling

Since Alan has been gone, I have taken on several projects. I find that I get more done when he is gone so I have taken advantage of the opportunity, plus it takes my mind off his absence. We have an outside storage closet attached to our house coming off the balcony. We have never kept anything in it, but my neighbors redid theirs to make it a place where they could store the husbands TA-50 (Army gear). I decided it was a great idea, since Alan's was sitting in boxes in our laundry room. This way Alan could find his gear more easily, and I could have some space in the laundry room. :D So I got started. I laid down carpet, painted, put carpet on the shelves, hung up two poles to hang his tops and bottoms on, and hung hooks in the walls to hang his helmets and hats. Alan has a lot of his gear with him at the school he is attending, and when he gets home, there will be a better place for it. It took three days to get it all done, but it was worth it. It looks nice, and hopefully it will stay that way. Here are some pics of before, during, and after. It was hard to get pictures since the closet is small, but this should give a pretty good idea.

Julie