She PASSED!

Just wanted to announce that our wagon passed a state inspection! We were a little nervous. She's ready for the road. I'll be posting a picture and announcing her new name when the voting is complete!

Home and Work

This is a picture of our building. We live on a canal, that's the water you see. Of course, our apartment faces the mountains and not the ocean. Home sweet home for now!

We work at Tripler Army Medical Center. It's about 7 miles from our apartment. It's up on a hill and it's pink! Look below.

The hospital was built in 1950. We work in the ICU, the patient load is medical and surgical. As my dad said,"We're in the army now!" It's very odd to work with people who are wearing army fatigues. I'm sure we'll get used to it soon.

This is my badge. Please note the American flag as the background and the large "C", that stands for civilian. Just kidding! It means contract.

The Newest Member of our Family

We became new owners of a silver station wagon today (to be called the wagon from here on out). We drove to Ewa Beach, which is about 30 minutes from where we live. We felt like we were going to make a dirty deal in a parking lot at night. It's 'kinda what really happened, except for the dirty part. We did pass on buying the sound system. The wagon only has a few downsides...no power steering (a luxury really) and the driver's door handle doesn't work from the inside, otherwise she's perfect for our needs. So we signed a few papers and handed over some cash at the wagon's old home. We tucked her in between the Jag and BMW at our parking spot. We're hoping the beach bus behind us will offer a few words of welcome to the new wagon. We'll have her insured and inspected in the next day or two. We are working on a name for the wagon. It's up between Winnie or Wendy. Let us know your vote! If you come visit...you'll get to meet her. She's got lots of room for luggage!

Aloha from Oahu!

I am happy to report that Lauren and myself made it to Honolulu. We were greeted with a smile and a beautiful flower lai. Lauren arrived first and waited for me. This is how I found Lauren when I arrived.

They only lost one bag. Got our "convertible" rental and headed down to Waikiki. We found our new home without a problem. The security wasn't as happy to see us as we were her...but she did hand over the keys to our condo. We are on the 15th of 30 floors. We have big windows that give us a view of the mountains. We found the Wal-Mart and have started to settle in. Don't worry, there will be pictures soon. As I write this it's 11:15pm (but I'm running on 4:15am time); I'm struggling to keep my eyes open, waiting for the call that my luggage has arrived at the building. And for those who are curious...we have a fine looking TV stand with a very nice flat screen TV!

Savannah

My friend Kellyn came to Savannah for a convention. So I jumped in the car for 2 hours to visit with Kellyn and Jed for the weekend. Kellyn had an afternoon of convention stuff. So I made Jed walk ALL over Savannah. We walked from one end to the other. We went to Forsyth Park which is where the beautiful fountain pictured above is located.

The weather was great all weekend. I also made Jed come with me to the home of the founder of Girl Scouts, Juliette Gordon Lowe. I really enjoyed the tour. For those of you who don't know. I have always been a girl scout and earned my Gold Award in high school! Yay for me!

The foodies that Kellyn and I are...had to make a visit to Paula Dean's Lady and Sons for a meal. Sunday is buffet day. Above is that picture of my plate before I started. You can't see it, but there is a huge glass of sweet tea next to my plate. Yummy!

After this picture I had a full tummy. Then we had dessert! I think my mom makes better desserts. All in all the meal was a good southern meal. I think Lady and Sons was talked up a little too much, but now we can say we've been there.

Here's a picture of the happy couple!

We had lots of fun and it was great to see my friend!

Last Night Out In Charleston

Two lovely girls enjoying their last night out in Charleston. We got together a few friends and headed downtown. One last shot of sweet tea vodka with Chris, Lauren and Tiffany.

I don't think Tiffany liked hers very much.We found a 6'8" biker that looked tough and mean, but he was really a teddy bear. Lauren liked hugging him and getting the view from below. I got a ride on his chopper! Don't worry everyone...we only went 30mph for 1 mile.

Lauren giving out kisses by the end of the night! We are really going to miss Charleston. Watch out Hawaii...you have a lot to live up to!