The Hanging of the Quilt

This evening the guys hung up Zac's quilt in the living room, after only one day of me complaining about it not being up yet! :) This is the quilt I made for Zac and gave to him at the rehearsal dinner of our wedding. The quilt was long-arm quilted by Donna Francis, and she did the most amazing job!! Zac, Ted and Randy all pitched in to make sure that the quilt was level. Thank you so much, guys! I am so thankful to not be staring at a blank wall any longer! 

Aloha, Ted!

This evening, after several delays thanks to storms in Dallas and the Midwest, Ted Jakus finally arrived in Honolulu! After picking him up, we went to dinner at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville in Waikiki. He will be spending the next two weeks with us! :) Hooray! He is on his way to travel/work around Australia - isn't that exciting?

As a thank you gift, Ted brought us something...

Shiner Bock (100th Anniversary bottles)! Thanks, Ted, and A-LO-HA!

Me ke aloha,

Rebekah

The Peanut

About three or so weeks ago Beth and I received an e-mail from Miss Mandy Cozart. I happened to be working out at the house, and closed the DVD player on my laptop (I was doing Turbo Jam in the dining room :) ) and saw that seven minutes before that, I had received that e-mail with a subject of "You are going to kill me...". Instantaneously I had the feeling that something big was going to be disclosed in this mysterious e-mail, and of course, I clicked on it right away. I remember reading the e-mail and having to re-read sentences because I was reading so quickly that I was skipping over words. Luckily Mandy didn't mess around and got straight to the point in the second sentence, which read "Well to cut to the chase I am having a BABY!!!!" (Side note: Thank you, Mandy for not making me read a bunch of mumbo jumbo before getting the news across, otherwise I would have probably suffered from a panic attack right then and there.)As you can imagine, I was completely taken back, and completely excited all at the same time! I immediately started tearing up, and then crying. I tried calling Mandy, and dialed the wrong number. After finally getting through, I conferenced Beth in for the call, but also accidentally dialed my sister-in-law Beth. Finally the connection was established between all three of us, and we gushed about how excited we were and asked Mandy a million questions. Here is a pic of one of her first sonograms...

The "Peanut", as Beth dubbed the baby, is due September 23rd! Mandy has only had a little morning sickness, and she and the baby are both healthy and doing great. She is surrounded by an amazing family (and us friends) that are 110% supportive and can not WAIT until the Peanut is born. AND, in the next couple of weeks, the baby will be old/developed enough for the nurse/doctor to tell if it is a boy or a girl! Whoop!

So, consider this an addendum to my blog post "Shout Out to All of the Mamas Out There", because at that time, I didn't know that one of my best friends should be included. But, now that I do, CONGRATULATIONS MANDY!! The Peanut will be spoiled rotten by Beth and me, and I KNOW that he/she will by your fam as well! I will wait to start making things for the baby until I know the sex, but I won't be able to wait much longer!

Thanks to many of my friends having babies, I continue to learn a lot about pregnancy and babies, and I think they sure are CUTE! But, to save you from asking, Zac and I are still waiting! :) I now have another dear friend that will be a mom soon, and I will try to soak up as much knowledge as I can from her experiences. And, I hope to be there for all of the Peanut's milestones! And until the Peanut makes his/her grand entrance into this beautiful world, I will be impatiently waiting to meet him/her - and shopping and crafting for him/her, as well! 

I love you Mandy! And I am gushing with excitement for you!!!

Me ke aloha (with love),

RAWE

The Stack Family Visit & some Soap Box Action

This week Carey, Brianna and Austin Stack have been visiting us (their dad, Randy, Zac and me) this past week! They have been so kind to let me tag along on all of their explorations of Oahu. They are currently on the Big Island learning about volcanoes and such, and will be back for Wed. and Thurs. before they fly back to NH. :( CLICK HERE to see some of the pics from their visit. As you can see, we've been to the USS Arizona Memorial, Sandy Beach, the North Shore, Hanauma Bay, Diamond Head Crater - AND they've been able to get several things done on base for their move to Italy this summer. I hope that they have loved their vaca to Oahu!

And now for a little Soap Box Action...

I have been thinking a lot about my sister and the other poor students in the 1 year nursing program at UTMB. Not only are the totally ignored by their "administration" (if you can even call it that), but they are also treated as if they are college freshmen - however ALL of the students in this program HAVE a bachelor's degree - one of the requirements in order to get the 2 year nursing degree in only 1 year. Talk about insulting their intelligence. The program seems to be turning several of the students AGAINST the field of nursing - are you seeing the problem here? While it was the students' decision to sign up for a grueling program, they definitely did NOT sign up for the treatment (or neglect) that they have (or haven't) received. I have read several published articles, all questioning why the University of Texas Board of Regents continue the neglect of UTMB after Hurricane Ike. The overall consensus seems to be that UT is completely ignoring the school and hospital down in Galveston. Do they think that if they ignore it, it will just disappear? UTMB is the oldest medical school in Texas, and was once an amazing medical facility. But WHY are the regents not tackling the financial obstacles in order to bring the school back to life? Obstacles that are EASILY within reach with the amount of $$ that the UT system brings in. These are the questions I keep running over in my head. Not only should UT take a good hard look in the mirror, and put their craving for prestige behind them, but they also need to go through the faculty at UTMB nursing school with a fine tooth comb and weed out those not making the grade.

 

TGFS - Thank goodness for the sun!

Weekend Wrap-up: This weekend was a blur! 

Friday Zac, Randy and I went out to dinner at Duke's with several guys from the boat, and were then DRENCHED thanks to the frequent rain storms we have been having here on Oahu. After that, Zac and I decided to call it a night. When going out in Waikiki in the "rainy season", always bring an umbrella. Even if it clashes with your outfit. ;)

Saturday Zac studied, then came home and we all ate lunch (pigs in a blanket!) and just relaxed at home for the afternoon (which was rainy and miserable). We ended up watching "Cars", which was playing on the Disney Channel, since neither Zac or Randy had seen it. That made me laugh a little. While they were watching the movie, I thought that I would explore and join Twitter. I am now learning about how to "tweet", and reading funny posts from friends, Ellen and Tina Fey! Fun times. We shall see if I actually get in to this phenomenon. So far, it is entertaining. That evening we went to the Dolphin Scholarship auction at the Hickam Officers' Club. This event raises money for future Naval officers. Each ward room (officers on a boat) stationed at Pearl Harbor donates an item for the live auction, and the wives of their boat put together something for the silent auction. The event was very nice, highly entertaining and raised a lot of money for a great cause. Afterwards Zac, Randy and I came home and watched "The Changeling". What a feel good movie! (NOT!) However, it is a great story that I knew nothing about, and I am glad that we saw it. 

This morning Zac and I went to First Prez Church again, and to our surprise, Dave the Horn Guy opened the service with the theme song from Mario Bros.! It was pretty entertaining. Then, the President and CEO of the International Justice Mission, David Haugen, spoke about IJM and their mission and work. It was very interesting, and really made you think about other issues and areas of the world we don't generally think about. After church we grabbed a quick lunch at home and FINALLY headed to the beach! There has been so much rain and cloudiness lately, that I have not been to the beach in 2 weeks! That is WAY too long for living in HI. I will NOT let that happen again, unless the weather stands in my way. We spent all afternoon at Lanikai beach and soaked up the much needed energy from the sun. There were lots of people at the beach, which made me wonder why - but then I remembered - it's Spring Break for lots of people these next couple of weeks. We left the beach later this evening, grabbed some last minute groceries at the Marine Corps base, and enjoyed burgers on the lanai with Deryk P. and Joe L. What a great ending to an enjoyable weekend. 

I have been thinking a lot lately about how hard it is to be so far away from the people that I love and care about! I absolutely LOVE Hawaii, but I do wish that were closer to our friends and fam. I am really feeling the separation anxiety and sadness. But, I am concentrating on fun things ahead.

Tomorrow my friends (and Randy's wife and children) Carey, Brianna and Austin arrive for 10 days!! I am so excited for them to be here!! This week will definitely be a fun and busy one - and an emotional boost for me. I am sure that I will have a lot of posts for you this week.

Much love,

RAWE

PS - OH! And, I will have to mention, week before last TARGET opened on Oahu in 2 locations. I made a quick trip to the Salt Lake location for some card stock last week, but ran in and out, and didn't get to really enjoy the whole brand new Target experience. Soooo, this week Melissa, baby Mason and I went out to the Kapolei Target for some shopping and to enjoy the new store! I didn't find many things that I absolutely could not live without, however the whole experience was very comforting. :) I felt more like I was at "home" in the new store, and it is reassuring to know that one of my faves is now on the island - and in 2 locations! (It even smelled like new - and like Target! Ahhhhh.) 

Come and knock on our door

Zac and I have a roommate for a little while! Randy Stack is going to be staying with us until he has to transfer off of the boat in May/June-ish. Saturday morning, when I woke up and went in to the bathroom, this is what I saw...

Immediately, the theme song to "Three's Company" popped into my head, and has been there ever since.

Our Saturday was really uneventful, thanks to the overcast weather and off and on again showers all day long. Boo! We went to the NEX/Commissary and later the guys made steak kabobs on the grill. Mmm. 

Today Zac was on duty, so Randy and I went up to the boat, and I got my first EVER tour of the USS Louisville! :) I was so excited to be able to see the boat and to have Zac show me all of the separate parts of the place he spends so much of his time. Every single inch of the space on that boat is utilized. It is pretty amazing, to say the least. Since Zac and I have been married, the boat has been in the shipyard in NH - under tight lock and key. Civilians, like myself, are not allowed to go on to the boats in NH. Now that the boat is here at Pearl, civilians may tour the boat if accompanied by a crew member. Being the science-and-engineering-challenged person that I am, I didn't retain much of the information that Zac shared with me, but maybe after a few more tours, I will get more of the idea. Ha - or maybe not.

This afternoon Randy and I met the rest of the Louisville ward room crew in Waikiki for a Hail and Farewell lunch to welcome our two new officers, and to say goodbye to our Navigator and his wife. We are going to miss Deryk and Genevieve tremendously, and we wish them the best of luck in Washington state. And, welcome to the Simsic and Tedrick (sp?) families!

When I got home this evening, there was a beautiful sunset. So, here is your parting shot (from our lanai) for tonight...

I still don't think Hawaiian sunsets are as breathtaking as those of the Texas Panhandle!

Aloha,

RAWE

Welcome home, USS Louisville!

Today the USS Louisville returned to its home port here in Pearl Harbor. Homecoming went well - everything was on time, and it didn't rain! I took lots of pics, so to see the event details, click here and read the captions for details! HOMECOMING PICS

I am so glad that the boat and all of the guys are home safely! Let the fun continue...

-Rebekah

Another Homecoming Creation

Today some Louisville wives and I put up a "cup" sign in the fence outside of one of the gates to Naval Station Pearl Harbor. Thankfully, we had a very talented designer, Kristina, who drew the design and stood on the right side of the fence to tell us where to put the "cups". Everyone was extremely cooperative, worked so well together and we finished in less than 3 hours! (We were expecting it to take a LOT longer.) We borrowed Put-in-Cups from two other boats here to create our masterpiece! They make fence "cup" designs SO much easier, don't blow out and the designs look much better! This was my first time working on a "cup" sign; I wrote a letter to Navy Legal, was granted permission to put up the sign a certain amount of hours before the boat arrives, and today we finally got to put it up! Everyone there was so excited to be working on the project, and it was a great success. Here is a final shot of our work!

The graphic on the left is the boat's logo, the black "dolphins" at the bottom center are the Navy's symbol for submarines, and the "724" is the hull number of the boat. Wa hoo! Homecoming is almost here!

Funny story from earlier in the week that I wanted to share:

February 28th was miss Kaylie Paige Hamm's 3rd birthday (I can't believe it)! On her birthday I called to sing the "Happy Birthday" song to her, a tradition that my parents, sister and I love to do to family and friends. I had only sung a few phrases of the song, when I hear a little shuffling and whispering on the other end of the line. When I finally finished my serenade, Mary got on the phone and told me that Kaylie had broken down mid-song and was crying! I didn't think that I was singing that badly, but maybe I was? Haha. Who knows, but I thought that was funny. For her birthday I sent her a hula girl costume and the book "The ABCs of Hawaii" (the American English alphabet - if it was the HI alpha, the book wouldn't have been very long). Here is a picture of precious Kaylie in her hula girl outfit. 

 And good luck to Mary as she shoots at a tournament in Poland!

Aloha,

RAWE

Happy Girl's Day (March 3rd)!

I really have no idea what "Girl's Day" is exactly, so I thought I would look it up and share it with the people that are so bored that they are reading my blog today. :) The NEX has had a display of all things Hello Kitty, pink, Asian snacks and candies in the entrance for a good while now, so it must be newsworthy. Sounds like a some sort of a fun holiday to me! According to Wikipedia, (drum roll please...) Girl's Day is a Japanese festival and displaying of dolls. And now you have learned something new today. 

Zac and I had busy days today. While Zac was being interviewed for PNEO and studying and such, I was out with some USS Louisville ward room wives putting together items for a basket to be auctioned off for the Dolphin Scholarship. Afterwards I ran an errand for homecoming, worked out, picked up some groceries and fought the traffic all the way home. 

This evening I worked on a poster for the homecoming celebration. It will hang on the fence at the pier where the sub will pull in, when they finally return home to Pearl Harbor! And here it is!

I hope that all of the officers on Z's boat fully appreciate my use of GLITTER on the horseshoe in their logo. Isn't it awesome!?

Until tomorrow,

-RAWE

Jimmy Buffett, Diamond Head and National Cemetery of the Pacific

Aloha! 

Zac and I have had a very busy weekend. But, we had so much fun that we thought we should tell you all about it!

Friday night we had dinner at the Hagenbuch's house - and I am happy to report that the girls kicked butt at Trivial Pursuit. 

Saturday we worked on a few little projects at the house. Zac fixed the sliding screen door while I repotted some plants that we got. I'm hoping that since we live here it will be easier to keep plants alive! I haven't had a very good track record anywhere else. We had a lazy afternoon, then went downtown for some fish tacos and Jimmy Buffett! After FINALLY finding a parking spot near the Waikiki Shell (and missing 6ish songs :( ) we made it in to the concert and joined the rest of the Parrot Heads. Jimmy put on a really great show! And let me tell you, the people watching was superb. There were fans of all ages, wearing all sorts of costumes (hula girls and guys, parrot head hats, glittery shark fins, jean jackets from the 80s with Jimmy Buffett painted-on designs, etc.) and clothes. Jimmy didn't have an opening band (part of the reason we were late, we were hoping to avoid the opener), but he played a good 2.5 hour concert. It was definitely a concert that we both wanted to experience at least once in our lifetimes, but I hope that we see him again sometime. I HIGHLY recommend seeing his show. "Fins to the left, fins to the right..."

Sunday Zac and I tried a new church in Kaneohe, First Presbyterian of Honolulu. We really enjoyed the service. The church shares its building with Ko'olau golf club and is in the most beautiful location! We will be returning for another great Sunday of worship.

We have been wanting to go hiking lately, so after church we headed up to Diamond Head Crater. The hike is a short one (8/10 of a mile), but it will definitely get your heart pumping on the way up. At the top you climb through the former fire control station and up to the top of the crater, to a stunning view of the southeast side of the island. The wind up there today was horrible (has been all week); worse than Panhandle winds!! But, at the same time, it was nice after the hike up. We took a few minutes to take in the view, then hiked back to the bottom of the crater (and our water bottles in the Jeep). CLICK HERE to see all of the pics! Here's a taste...

On our way home we stopped by the National Cemetery of the Pacific. The cemetery is located in "Punchbowl" crater (which we can see from our lanai!). I was extremely impressed with the beautiful monuments and grounds. I have heard that this is the second largest cemetery, following Arlington, but I don't know if that is really true. There are thousands of soldiers buried here, and another 28,000+ soldiers are honored by the memorial. The cemetery also has a great view of downtown. I took several pictures while visiting - CLICK HERE.

Finally, tonight I had dinner with the other ward room wives to welcome Audra. We had a wonderful dinner at Bravo, and it was so great to be back together! It is bitter sweet, though, that not all of the wives from NH are here. I know that this comes with the (Navy) territory, but not having all of the wives here is still sad. I'm missing you ladies!

I already have lots of plans for this week, so more posts will definitely be coming to a monitor near you very soon!

Hope your weekend was also tons of fun,

RAWE