Happy New Ye...whoops, I mean February!

So it's pretty insane that we're already a whole month into 2016, right??  I'm definitely still adjusting to the new year, especially in writing the date, haha.  Time is flying here in Virginia.  And I thought our time in Hawaii went by fast -- it's nothing like this!

I've been taking on a lot more work, both the paid kind and the volunteer kind, so I know that's the culprit for Mr. L's first year of "retirement" (and nearly our first year in Virginia) slipping through our fingers so quickly.  Nothing like some good old-fashioned hard work to make you forget what day of the week it is, let alone that it isn't even 2015 anymore!

A photo posted by Erica (@anddrinkthewildair) on Dec 8, 2015 at 11:51am PST

And speaking of 2015, Mr. L and I were lucky enough to be able to spend Christmas 2015 with our families.  The drive back and forth from Virginia to Alabama is rough (not going to lie), but I'm SO glad it's doable in a day.  I don't think we'll ever make it a two-day trip again, at least not until kids come along!  The pups really do travel well.  The first 30 minutes to an hour are always bumpy since they don't know if they're just going to the vet or the groomer (ha!), but afterwards they settle into their beds and blankets and hang on for the ride.  Plus they always let us know when they need to stop, which is actually a blessing.  I'm glad they're adapting though!

"Road trips are fun!" said no Schnauzer ever. #schnauzersofinstagram #roadtripping

A photo posted by Erica (@anddrinkthewildair) on Dec 27, 2015 at 8:17am PST

Christmas was wonderful though!  We got to have a week's worth of family, friends, and unwinding time and we couldn't have asked for anything more -- well, except maybe more time!  (The time it takes to build up civilian vacation is killin' us over here, man.  If you or your spouse are still in the military, enjoy that 24/7 leave accumulation while you can!)  We do miss Alabama when we have to leave, but I think Virginia's really starting to feel like home, and that's a pretty nice feeling to have.

Christmas at the camp! #gettingbacktonature #happyplace #christmas2015

A photo posted by Erica (@anddrinkthewildair) on Dec 25, 2015 at 8:26am PST

Mr. L and I also made a huge decision in the past few months -- we're officially searching for a home to purchase!  I've gone back and forth on feeling euphoric and scared out of my mind when I think about it, and I probably will continue to do so right up until we sign our lives away on those pieces of paper, haha.  So if any of you have tips on home-buying, please share!  I'd love any bit of advice you could give on the topic.

I think one reason why I shift back and forth is because it's difficult to transition to the mindset that we can actually put down roots now.  For so long, we expected to be nomads and shift from exotic and awesome place to not-so-exotic and awesome place every three years and we had to put off those dreams of roots for "one day".  Well, "one day" is somehow now here and it's certainly intimidating.  Mr. L is all ready to jump in though.  It's funny how we interpret our same situation so differently sometimes.  Maybe some of you can understand how I'm feeling, especially if you and your family have recently separated from the military.  It's just...weird.  Good, but weird.  However, I will absolutely be SO HAPPY to be done with moving!  Nine times in six years is WAY TOO MUCH.

Anyway, so I guess y'all can consider this your yearly update, lol.  Hopefully I'll be back to chat more about the home-buying process, and definitely with pictures!!  I'm disappointed at the number of pictures I took in 2015, so I need to change that in 2016.  I guess there's my resolution!

And now I'll leave y'all with this video of Liam and Lila experiencing snow for the first time in their little lives.  Enjoy it, and think about the fact that two days after this was taken, our temperature high nearly topped 70.  Virginia weather is bipolar!

Doing what Schnauzers do best #barkers #schnauzersofinstagram #vabeach #snowday

A video posted by Erica (@anddrinkthewildair) on Jan 24, 2016 at 6:46am PST

Checking In

Hello everyone!  I just wanted to check in and let you all know I haven't fallen off the face of the earth...although it may feel like I have!  I'm pretty ashamed that I haven't blogged at all for over a month now  :(  Sometimes life just doesn't give you blogging time though!

Things have definitely changed since Mr. L got out of the Navy.  We definitely miss the Navy, but we're glad to be out of it too (probably me more than Mr. L though, to be honest).  It's easy to still feel connected here in Virginia though thanks to the many, many military bases around us.  It isn't the same, but it's a lot better than being isolated from the community entirely like we were in Alabama.

Checking out the #blueangels from the house! ✈😁 #vabeach

A photo posted by Erica (@anddrinkthewildair) on Sep 20, 2015 at 12:45pm PDT

Living in Virginia has been a wonderful adventure so far and we are loving our new home.  It's taken us a little while to settle in (we've already been here six months!) but now that we can navigate around without the help of Waze, we are really enjoying this part of the state.  Being so close to the ocean again is something I didn't realize my soul needed!!  It was absolutely the top thing I missed about Hawaii (and still do!) so I'm glad we're near the beach.

Looks like we have to stay down at the beach this week...poor us! #vabeach

A photo posted by Erica (@anddrinkthewildair) on Apr 11, 2015 at 1:09pm PDT

In the meantime, Mr. L is loving his new job.  We weren't sure if he would, but that fact has just made things that much easier for us.  If he's happy, I'm happy!  And then I've been spending most of my days getting involved with the grassroots campaign of a presidential candidate.  I don't really want to go into details about it since I like to keep the blog mostly free of politics (if you follow me on Instagram, though, it isn't that big of a secret!  haha), but suffice it to say that I am having a blast holding events, volunteering, and meeting all kinds of wonderful people from around the entire state of Virginia.  I'm experiencing a bit of a political awakening and it's very exciting!

Beautiful day at Mt. Trashmore today!!

A photo posted by Erica (@anddrinkthewildair) on Sep 19, 2015 at 11:31am PDT

For now, Mr. L and I will continue to settle in and get our bearings on this new life of ours, and hopefully I'll be back up to blogging speed soon, especially since I still have to talk about all the beautiful things we've seen in Kauai and then more on Oahu!  So stay tuned :)    

New Beginnings

Chick's Beach, Virginia - Courtesy of Flickr user Jeff Self

Things have definitely changed for our household over the past few weeks.  I know I basically just got done telling you all how busy we've been since we've been back in Alabama, but now, of course, things have gotten even crazier!  I'm beginning to think we can't do anything but crazy, haha.

Back when Mr. L retired from the military, he and I came up with what I thought was a pretty decent "life plan" to get us through at least the next year or so.  We would live with my parents, I would find a decent job, and we'd save enough money to be able to rent (or buy) a place of our own eventually in our shared hometown.  However, as it usually does, life had other plans in store for us.

Mr. L was contacted by a friend in the military about a potential job opening in Virginia Beach with a civilian company.  We were a little taken aback, but we figured more information couldn't hurt.  Plus I assumed that nothing would come of it, and I think Mr. L probably did too.  

But the more information we got about it, the more perfect the position seemed to be.  Eventually we felt like it was written specifically for him!  It also didn't hurt that the recruiter was VERY interested in Mr. L and was contacting him quite frequently.  After some intense discussion with our families over the course of a few days, Mr. L and I made the joint decision to take a leap of faith and go for it.

Then a couple of weeks later, Mr. L officially got the job!  I was and am still so, so proud of him.  It's going to be a difficult path for us with his illness, but we felt like it was the right move not only for his career but for our future as a family.

So for the past few weeks, we have been knee-deep in moving AGAIN.  (Did you know I've officially moved 7 times in 5 years now?  Um, crazy.)  Unfortunately we'll still be in the transition process (AKA hotel livin') for longer than I really want, but that's the right decision for us even though it sucks.  Eventually we'll be settled and all the hard work will be worth it!

It also kind of sucks that we weren't back in Alabama for very long.  We kept thinking we had so much more time to spend with friends and family that we didn't get to see everyone we wanted to or do everything we wanted.  I guess we'll just have to save those memories for the next time we visit.  At least you can drive from Virginia to Alabama, right??  Definitely not like Hawaii!  :)

I'm hoping to keep everything here on the blog running pretty smoothly, but I may have brief hiatuses every now and then while we get settled.  I do have scheduled posts coming so I'll at least have some new content out soon.  I hope you guys stick around through at least one more move with me!  But until next time, aloha :)

Settling In

The past two months have been SUCH a whirlwind!  We've done so much and seen so much and gone to so many places that I am exhausted.  To recap: we visited two other islands, we moved out of our house and passed Forest City's dreaded move-out inspection, Mr. L retired from the Navy after 11 years of exemplary service, we said goodbye to the place where we spent the majority of our marriage, we traveled 13 hours (ish) back to our hometowns, moved in with my parents, celebrated Christmas, received our household goods shipment, took a road trip to Florida, took another road trip to Atlanta to pick up our (damaged) car, began the claims process with IAL, had a baby shower, started seeing doctors, and I started applying for jobs. PHEW!  That was too much to even type, much less live!!  Haha.

Waikiki Beach on our last day on Oahu

Looking back, we probably should have taken it much more easy and gone with a later retirement date.  But with the holidays coming up, we wanted to seize the opportunity to spend Christmas with our families.  Otherwise, it would have been our fourth Christmas in a row that we'd have missed with them and the thought of that really just made us sad.  But it was such a taxing experience overall.  I'm just glad we're past the tough parts now.

For now, our future is a total blank page, which is quite strange.  We've never had this kind of open road ahead of us before.  It's always been planned for us, from our wedding to Mr. L staying in the Navy for 20 years to having kids 5 years into our marriage, so it's definitely a scary time for the both of us.  We have many, many hopes, but few concrete plans.  Hopefully our path begins to reveal itself as soon as possible!

In the meantime, get ready for me to detail many of the places we've seen in the past year, from the Big Island to Kauai to good old Oahu once again.  I've got a lot to talk about, so I hope you all are still going to stick around for it!  Aloha for now!

Retirement Day

Mr. L, 

Today is your retirement day!  I am going to be honest -- it's so strange saying something like that.  We're both so young!!  You just turned 29!  Our lives are just getting started!  But that is the hand we have been dealt, so c'est la vie.

It's the truth, you know.  Our lives are just getting started.  We both still have so much to see, do, and experience together.  The Navy was an incredible chapter of your life that you got to share with me.  Yes, a lot of it was bad (I'm lookin' at you, deployments!), but so much of it was good.  I loved sharing that sense of adventure and excitement with you, especially around order pickin' time.  Getting to explore new places was a huge gift the Navy gave to both of us and it's something I'll be forever grateful for.

Unfortunately due to circumstances beyond our control, that chapter has been forced to come to an end.  I'm very sad about it, and I think you know that, but like I told you in the car yesterday, the best way for us to move forward with all of these changes is to think positively.  Moping will get us nowhere but feeling sorry for ourselves.  We have to change our outlook and focus on all of the wonderful things retirement will bring you.

For the first time in your adult life, literally the first time, you get to make choices for yourself without a tether.  Yes, that tether may in fact have been a lifeline for a long time, but I promise you, that is no longer the case.  You can and will thrive as a civilian!  The Navy has given you so much experience and knowledge in your field, which was another incredible gift, but now it is time for you to put your talents and brains to use elsewhere.  When you find your next job, they are going to be so lucky to have a person like you working for them.  You shine in so many situations and you will be proving your worth over and over and over again to them tenfold.  As long as you continue to carry your well-deserved confidence and "swagger" along from your Navy days, you will outshine everyone around you!

No matter what circumstances we go through, we will always be going through them together.  You're not alone in all of this.  I'll be whatever you need -- your rock, your confidant, your friend, your strength, your comfort (although I suspect a Therapy Schnauzer might offer better comfort sometimes).  I love you with all of my heart and I cannot wait to see all the wonderful things you achieve throughout your life!!!

Happy retirement day, Chawwie!!

When the Future Turns into the Present

Mr. L finally received his hard copy orders!  For those of you in the military community, you know how big of a deal this is and what it means.  Basically we can now start making concrete plans when it comes to moving!

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I feel like there's SO much to be done in such a short period of time.  Our main goal is to be home for Christmas and so far it looks like we're going to be able to stick to that plan.  We've already got our puppies set up to fly with Island Pet Movers, a local pet moving company that assists families in getting pets in and out of Hawaii.  We actually used them when we moved here to get Liam on island and they were such a huge help.  I'm glad it's one less thing that's on our plate and I don't have to worry about it, although it's probably going to kill me to say goodbye to them :(

My sweet pups cuddling

Somehow, someway, Mr. L and I are also going to island hop twice in this period of time too.  What can I say?  We are pretty ambitious people, haha.  It would have only been once, but Hurricane Ana derailed our plans to visit Kauai last month.  Since our plane tickets are transferable but not refundable, it looks like we're going to be squeezing in the short hop to Kauai.  Then we'll be checking out the Kona side of the Big Island for a couple of days since it's the only area we haven't seen on the BI.  I'm definitely excited to be heading back to both places!

Beautiful Waimea Canyon on Kauai

In some ways this feels like a regular old PCS, so it's strange to think it definitely won't be.  Mr. L's retirement date is set in stone now and it's bizarre to imagine him as something other than a military man.  But the reality is that's what he'll become and it's something we'll have to process through and deal with.  Thankfully we'll have tons of support from our friends and family back home to help us transition.  I realize how many people aren't that fortunate and I know we're absolutely blessed.

But for now, it's time to get to sorting and purging our stuff!  Wish us luck :)

Saying Aloha to Hawaii

Mr. L and I have finally (finally!) received a definitive answer regarding his current medical situation.  As some of you may have read in my last post on this topic, Mr. L had begun his medical evaluation board process back over the summer.  That involved a lot of paperwork, some medical tests, and a good dose of patience.  We were fortunate that his packet actually came back VERY quickly and also with some wonderful news that he'll be medically retired by the end of the year.

Beautiful Sunset Beach

A year ago, medical retirement/medical separation was the very last thing we wanted.  We were doing everything in our power to diagnose his illness and get it fixed.  But sadly, chronic illness doesn't work that way and we've had to roll with the punches.  There was an option for him to cross rate (change his job) to stay in the Navy, but Mr. L wanted that even less than separation.  So we took our chances and are very happy to say at least this turned out in our favor.

Friday Night Fireworks on Waikiki Beach

I guess the big question on our minds is what now?  Basically, we are pretty much in the dark.  We know that we will be moving home to Alabama, but we have no idea what's in store for us after that.  Mr. L and I are both updating our resumes and he is actively working connections to secure some type of employment, but we're worried about how it'll work out for us.  There are a lot of things we want and don't want in our life together and we'll just have to pray that the pieces fall together somehow.

Gorgeous Lanikai Beach

On top of that, we'll now have to deal with two complete lifestyle changes.  After 11 years of dedicated service, Mr. L will have to answer the question, "Who am I without the military?"  The military can be such a hassle, but it really has provided him with not only security, but wonderful opportunities throughout his adult life that I don't think he could have achieved any other way.  Losing that part of his identity will be a huge blow, but I do have faith that he'll find something equally as important to him and throw his energy and passion into that.

Kaneohe waterfalls on a stormy day

The second lifestyle change will be saying goodbye to Hawaii.  We've known from the beginning that we would never be settling here as a family, but Hawaii is a unique and lovely place that will always hold a special place in our hearts.  We've spent the majority of our marriage here, made some incredible friends, and have seen beauty we could never have imagined while growing up in Alabama.  This period of our lives was an absolute blessing to experience and I'm so thankful for that opportunity.  And let me tell you, I am sure going to miss the food here!  Haha.

The Blue Angels performing on Hickam Air Force Base

We're still working out the final details, but for now, we will be soaking up every last bit of sun, beach, mountains, food, and friends while we still can, and then it will be back to the "real world" for us.  Feel free to send lots of good thoughts and prayers our way!  :)

Welcome to And Drink the Wild Air!

Hi everyone and welcome to my newly made over blog!  This little space on the web has changed from "The Landrum Wife" and is now known as "And Drink the Wild Air," a nod to the famous Ralph Waldo Emerson quote from his poem "Merlin's Song."  A few months ago, I alluded to this transition with this post, and I am proud to finally unveil the final product to you all!

Just like with my last blog redesign, I'd like to thank Beth Bradford for all of her hard work, patience, and valuable time helping me figure out this new transition.  She always seems to deliver exactly what I'm envisioning and is such a pleasure to work with.  If you ever need any help with your own blog design, I highly recommend working with her!

This is just the first of many changes that will be happening in the lives of the Landrums over the next few months and I feel like it's very appropriate to kick it off with a blog rename and redesign.  (Look for an upcoming post detailing some of the other changes here soon!)  I'm hoping now that my new name will reflect a bit more of my personal life philosophy as we open up the next chapter of our lives, and I am also hoping you all continue to join me for the ride :)

Until next time, aloha!  :)

Real Healthcare is Nothing Like Grey's Anatomy

This blog post was originally written a few months ago around the beginning of summer, but I never took the time to finish it and put it up after getting my initial thoughts down.  In light of recent news on this front though, I decided to post it to catch you all up on what's been happening with Mr. L's situation.  It's not terribly optimistic so I apologize in advance for that.

~*~

Mr. L is now officially starting the medical board process.  For those of you who don't know, a med board (MEB) is basically what happens when a servicemember has been injured or taken ill while on active duty.  The Navy decides through a board if the servicemember can be declared fit for full duty once again or separation from the military is the best course to go.  The board also decides what sort of disability rating the servicemember gets if separation is imminent.

So for the next stretch of time (I'm unsure as to exactly how long), we will be attending many appointments to prepare all of the documentation needed to be sent to D.C. for his board.  We aren't happy -- how could we be? -- but we are both slowly accepting that the military may not be the right place for Mr. L at this point in time.  That in itself is such a weird thing to say, though.  The military is all he's ever wanted, so how could we have even gotten to this point at all?

Here is a funny Liam picture to cheer you all (read: me) up while reading this post.

 If there's one thing we've learned throughout the past year-plus through this process though, it's that real life healthcare is not like an episode of Grey's Anatomy or House.  Doctors don't give a crap about "figuring out" your condition and trying to "fix you."  They don't give a crap about solving your puzzle of an illness.  They just want to get their payout and maybe prescribe you a little medicine to tide you over while they move on to the next patient until their day is done.

Don't misunderstand me -- we've had some great doctors helping us through this situation.  Mr. L's PCM has been so wonderful to us and a lifesaver for our morale.  The ophthalmologist we saw for a couple of months back last year was genuine, kind, and always made sure Mr. L had a direct line straight to him for emergency purposes (which led to him advising us to head to the ER for an MRI over a year ago now after his eye pain became crippling migraines).  And his acupuncturist has been so patient, kind, and willing to listen whenever he needed to express any thoughts or concerns.

At this point, however, it's just hard for us to remain positive and hopeful, especially after our (third) neurologist informed us that Mr. L's condition isn't a neurological issue, which couldn't be farther from the truth.  It may not be diagnosed at this time, but it is DEFINITELY neurological -- most likely a cross between trigeminal neuralgia (or another kind of neuralgia) and cluster headaches.  Trust us when we say that we will be attempting to find a new (this'll be the fourth, if you're keeping count) neurologist if it's at all possible -- healthcare for active duty is so restrictive sometimes.

Yes, that's Lila in a t-shirt.  I don't even know, you guys...I'm probably losing it.

But now we wait.  We're praying we get some kind of good news that we can hang onto during this process and that it comes sooner rather than later. I guess we'll see.  Until then all good thoughts and prayers are very, very welcome!

Think: Net Neutrality

You all may have noticed the giant freakin' banner at the top of my blog appear overnight, but I assure you, it is for a good reason!  I am participating in the Battle for the Net in order to protect a free and open internet for all U.S. citizens, not just those rich enough to afford it.  This is also known as net neutrality.

You may have heard that term before, but if you want to understand it better, I highly suggest this video from John Oliver of Last Week Tonight:

For the Battle of the Net, this is what is going to happen.  On September 10th of this year (tomorrow), participating websites, including Netflix, Reddit, Vimeo, Etsy, Credo, Upworthy, Tumblr, Digg, Foursquare, Kickstarter, Mozilla, Imgur, and many, many more will be displaying the same kind of loading icon I have at the top of my own blog in order to protest the idea of internet fast lanes.  Although these websites won't actually be slowing down their speeds (yours truly included), this kind of outpouring of support for net neutrality is huge and will surely cause people to take notice.

But getting attention isn't the main goal here.  We want U.S. citizens to contact their lawmakers and make a statement about what the internet should be like in this country.  Congressional action is how we will force our voices to be heard and it's one of the most powerful tools we have in our arsenal.  In order to ensure our Congresspeople are doing what we the people wish, we have to tell them first.

Use the widget at the top of the page to fill out a form letter and send it to your Congressperson.  Make phone calls to them as well.  Share on Twitter, Facebook, or your social media platform of choice.  Talk to your family and friends about this, especially those who aren't as connected to digital media and news as others may be.  Get the word out so we can fight what Team Cable has in store for us!

For more information on the Battle for the Net, go here.  This website goes in depth about this specific event and also includes known members of Team Cable and Team Internet (where does your lawmaker stand?) and tells you how to participate in the battle on September 10th.

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Ch-Ch-Changes!

As the end of the year ticks down (and inevitably the end of our time in Hawaii), I'm becoming more and more willing to shake things up around the old blog here, except this time in a big way.  It's been on my mind for a while now to really revamp my blog, and the occasional new background and color schemes just isn't cutting it anymore for me!

via TheStressSurfer.com

I have a few ideas in mind for how I want to go about all of this, but first and foremost I wanted you all to know that it will most certainly involve a blog title change and a domain name change.  I'm going to figure out the best way to make sure this transition is as seamless as possible and that it doesn't affect any of my readers in any way.

Why am I changing my title and domain at this stage of my blog, you ask?  Mr. L and I will soon be undergoing a major transition in our lives.  The possibility of Mr. L leaving the military is getting stronger and stronger every day thanks to his illness, which is still yet to be diagnosed.  Because of this particular upheaval and everything thing else that will ultimately come with it, I feel like it is time to graduate from "The Landrum Wife" and onto something a little less "wife-y" and a little more suitable for my personality and overall perspective.  Since I suppose this could be considered a "lifestyle" blog, I want to represent my viewpoint on my life and I'm hoping I'll be able to find a good "brand" as a vehicle for that message soon.

As I go through this process, I will keep everyone updated, and when it comes time to make the switch, you all will be the first ones to know.  Hopefully this change will be received well and will be as easy as possible to accomplish, haha.  Thanks so much for your understanding and support, and until next time, aloha!  :)

Plans are Useless

It's a known fact that things never go the way you plan for them to go.  I should have known that this would eventually apply to Mr. L and me as well, but when things are going swimmingly for you, it's hard to imagine anything but all that happiness and good fortune when you're making plans for the future.

For most of his life, Mr. L knew that he was going to be involved with the military somehow.  When he was a kid, he thought that the Army would ultimately be his path, but when the Army recruiter wasn't in on the day he went to sign up, the Navy recruiter stepped in and snatched him up.  It's funny how something so small can have a major impact on your life, isn't it?  I most likely never would have met Mr. L if it weren't for that Army recruiter being MIA!

And just for fun...my and Mr. L's first picture together...we were babies!

Thanksgiving 2013 Recap

Hi everyone!  I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and weekend this year.  I know we certainly did!

I had to drive to the North Shore to pick up one of the turkeys...I never get tired of this view!

We were lucky enough to have dinner on Thanksgiving with some really awesome friends (definitely more like family!) out here since we couldn't be home for the holidays -- darn you pricey plane tickets!  And since we also knew that we would cook WAY too much food (we did have TWO turkeys, y'all) we were able to feed a bunch of single sailors a wonderful, home-cooked, Southern meal while we were at it :)  Some of them told us how they hadn't had a good, hot meal in forever, so we were definitely glad we could give them a nice holiday this year!

Two Year Hawaiian Anniversary

It's SO crazy for me to think about, but Mr. L and I have officially been living in Hawaii for two years now!

At Makapu'u Lookout, just a few days after moving here

I always thought the time would drag on sooo slowly because we'd be so far away from anything I'd ever known, but I can honestly say time is moving TOO fast.  We're going to start looking at orders soon, y'all.  I can't even fathom that right now!

Coffee or Tea?

Even before we moved into our new house a few weeks ago, I had already begun brainstorming where exactly all of our things were going to be set up.  I knew that we would be putting a little coffee bar area somewhere near the kitchen, but I wasn't sure exactly where.  Originally I wanted to put it next to the pantry, but it turns out our cart was a little too wide to fit comfortably.  I rolled it over to the dining room for a second, and wouldn't you know it, I immediately found it's new home -- tucked into the back of the dining room.

Creamy Chicken Brain Dip

For Halloween this year, I knew that I was going to whip up at least one or two various "gross" dishes for the big day.  I just needed a little inspiration first!  I'd seen the infamous meatloaf hand last year, and the thought of using a mold intrigued me, so I went ahead and ordered a couple from Amazon (specifically these two, and FYI, I also saw brain molds on sale at Target recently!).  I didn't think I'd tackle the meatloaf hand (I'll probably use that mold for a dessert instead), but I knew the brain would make a great dip.  I just needed to find the right recipe first!

As I was flipping through a book of family recipes my mother had given me for Christmas, I came upon the recipe for one of my absolute FAVORITE dips, Creamy Chicken Dip.  I'm telling you -- I'm crazy about this dip.  I don't even like some of the things in it -- I despise mayo and I'm not a celery fan -- but I absolutely eat.it.up when it's in this fantastically delicious dip form.  I knew it was going to be the perfect recipe for my idea, especially after I realized gelatin was an ingredient, so I set out to make it happen!

Housing Troubles, Part 3: In Which We Get a New House!

As some of you may recall, we had a little issue with our home here in Hawaii back in December: namely, mold (see here and here for previous posts).  And I am very, very happy to say that after nearly two years of dealing with pipe issues and flooding backups and tree roots and mold issues, we were able to move out of our old house with the move out fee completely waived!

Our new home!

LoveSac: A Review

Back before Mr. L and I moved to Hawaii, I took a little trip up to Maryland to visit him while he was doing some training.  We were able to play the tourist and see lots of different things around the area and I was so thrilled we were able to share in that experience.  (I just remembered that I never even recapped that trip -- eek!  Maybe I should!)  One weekend while I was there, we headed off to one of the malls close to him and wandered around for a while.

At some point in our trip, we came across a small-ish furniture store tucked in around the other stores in the mall and decided to walk in and check it out.  The store's name was LoveSac, and we quickly saw what was so awesome about the "Sactionals" style furniture -- you can rearrange them into countless different formations!

A Visit from My Parents!

Last month, I was lucky enough to be able to play hosts to my awesome and amazing parents when they came here to Oahu for an all too brief visit!

Picking them up at HNL!

We may have cried a tiny bit.

Think: The Modern-Day Exploitation of the U.S. Military - Part Two

In my last Think post, I talked about the growing disconnect between the civilian world and the military world and how that relates to homecoming exploitation.  Unfortunately, that kind of exploitation isn’t the only type that’s out there.  If you haven’t heard about it, there has been some controversy in the American media regarding military benefits and pay, particularly recently.  A Huffington Post article published at the beginning of this year titled “Defense Budget Faces Cuts to Personnel After Decade of War” talks about ever-expanding cost of military personnel and the “lavish” benefits they receive (the word “lavish” was edited out later, I’m assuming after the backlash of anger hit them square in the face).

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