As they say in Hawai'i ALLLLOOHHHAAAA!

What can I possibly say about Hawaii that is not cliche? This place is amazing. I don't even make plans, just sitting here in a chair next to the window, feeling the breeze is enough to make me happy. No doubt the comfortable temperatures help with my enchantment of this place, but it is just an overall feeling of peace and relaxation I feel here.

It may be hard for some of you reading this to believe that I have been living in a house for almost two weeks that doesn't even have any air conditioning! This is something that I would never endeavor anywhere else. From our first day here we have SO enjoyed the happy rain showers that start just as quickly as they end and usually produce the most vibrant rainbow your eye has ever seen. The sights, smells, sounds and people are like no other place I have ever been. It is hard not to instantly feel at home!

We have had some wonderful experiences since we have been here. One of the trips we took was barfragious though! My dear mother, who knows that I can not even drive on a highway loop with out getting sick decided we would all take a trip to Waimea Canyon a few days ago. To say the road was windy would be an understatement. Picture me for about 20 minutes with my hands over my eyes groaning "Please God let this be the end!" and you will know the experience. When we got to the top it was cold and rainy. My mom assured me it would be "worth it" to which I replied "If I see a freakin' unicorn in that thing it won't be worth it!". It was pretty but not something I would ever do again. I asked her why she subjected me to that horror and she said "It's a canyon, I figured you knew about the drive." Yes Mom, I have lived in or around Dallas Texas my entire life, of course I know ALL about CANYONS!! What a dork!

Not every second here has been pleasurable but I will save that for another time, if ever at all. Those of you who know me are free to inquire about my side of the story as I know there are a lot of malicious comments being made. I think those of you who really know me, know me well enough to know that they are lies though and will require no further explanation.

That nastiness aside, my children have been just as amazed as I have by the beauty of Hawaii and I feel like we will be making subsequent trips here in our future. I have enjoyed a scenic round of golf with my husband, wonderful dinners, a fabulous luau with my birthday girl, and so many laughs watching my son explore beaches for the first time. My step sister, daughter, and son's "sand fight" on the beach the other day will be a lasting memory for me. Seeing their brown little bodies splash through the waves laughing and giggling brings a smile to my face and happy tear to my eye just thinking about it. I would not trade this experience for anything and getting to share it with my Mom and grandparents has made it all the more memorable!

That is all.

The Year of Wow

You can probably tell I have had a crazy year by the fact that it is barely six months in and I am already feeling the need to re-cap!

Every year in January, I take the plastic wrap off a new calendar. I flip through the months filling in the birthdays (well, the ones I can ever remember) and wondering what other words I will be writing in the 365 blank spots, 365 possibilities, completely unknown. What can you even hope to happen on January 1st? What if everything that happens surpasses anything you could have ever imagined?

In January we made the decision to move after living in our last home for only 4 months. What a crazy time!!! I thought I was going to lose my mind once or twice when the moving took well over a week and we gave away and sold half of what we owned but our new home was still packed!! The upside, I live incredibly close to my family now! It has been absolutely wonderful. I have had the chance to have coffee with my grandparents and dinner on the spur of the moment more than a few times. Our home is beautiful and is very energy efficient ( my water bill has been more than my electric bill every month so far). There have been some less than pleasant times, like the 2.5 months of construction and the fact that after 5 months we still haven't unpacked, but I have high hopes that we will finish before too long.

Another great moment, Clint started working!!! I don't think I have to elaborate too much on what a blessing that is since he has been in school since we got married. That is trying to say the least and it has been wonderful for us that he was able to find a job in his profession so quickly.

And thank goodness because we are expecting our third blessing in November! We decided we would like to have another kiddo while I was in the hospital recovering from my c-section with Denton! :) With his 2nd birthday approaching we decided it was as good a time as any and were surprised (well kind of) when we got pregnant immediately. We can't wait and are suuppperrr excited to let everyone know what we are having tomorrow. Sugar and spice and everything nice or snails and puppy dog tails? You'll just have to wait!

With the thought of a third child, I decided to take a year or so off of school. It is SOOOO much work. It is completely and entirely overwhelming and I am so burned out on school right now, I can't even begin to describe it to you. I am sure any of you out there with children and college know what I mean! To my surprise, when I called to talk to my advisor, I found out that I would be graduating in DECEMBER if I just hung in there! WOW! I cried with joy (which was only slightly embarrassing while on the phone with a complete stranger). I thought that this knowledge would sustain me through the very trying next two semesters, but alas, I am struggling. So say a prayer for me because I need to be able to remain focused so I can bring my illustrious 10 year college career to a successful end! I think I will even be graduating cum laude (if I can keep the grades where they are!).

What is the biggest surprise this year you ask? Well I am sure any one of the above things would qualify, but nope. That isn't it. I found out last week that my grandparents were going to be taking me and my entire family to Hawaii in August! This is a dream come true for me. I am not one to sugar coat so I will hardly do it now. My father is basically worthless. Besides planting the seed that grew in to me, he has done little over the last 29 years but continuously break my heart over and over. That being said, my grandfather has easily filled the missing place in my heart that would be reserved for a father (which is probably why my "daddy issues" have been minimal!) His positive and supportive influence in my life has been a life saver to me more than once and I love him more than I can express in any words I could ever find. I have dreamed of being able to share this experience with he and my grandmother and now, it is finally here! I am beyond blessed!!! So August 1-13th I will be heading out to paradise, leave a message!

Well, with 6 months of 2011 left, I have to say, I have been pretty blessed. I can't even imagine what the last half of the year has in store for me (besides a dream vacation, a baby, and graduation).

That is all.

Heather