Aloha and Mahalo!

Matt and I found out back in August that he was awarded a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Lanai, Hawaii. Kind of a coincidence it would happen near our anniversary, and even more of a coincidence that it would be in Hawaii, which is where we went on our honeymoon! We left on the 16th and got back on the 22nd (I know - took me a little long to post this!).

On Monday night, we got all dressed up, and went to a "Welcome Reception Luau". This picture didnt turn out too well.We had spa treatments while we were there and spent a lot of time lounging around! The view was gorgeous from our pool chairs. It overlooked the ocean. Two days after we got there, I looked up into the sky and saw the darkest cloud I had ever seen! When I pointed it out to Matt, he said "Thats not a cloud, babe, its smoke!" Long story short, there was an island fire and we had to be evacuated to the beach for safety reasons! Very scary! But hey, during a fire when you have to be evacuated, doesnt get much better than finding safety ON THE BEACH! ;)

On Wednesday, when we were at the beach, we saw cutest seal ever! He was sunbathing!Wednesday night was the Awards Cocktail Ceremony in the ballroom. Jewel performed for us that night after dinner. She was simply amazing! Just her and her guitar and she blew us all away!

On Thursday, we had a cooking class. I LOVE to cook, so that was a real treat for me. After that, we went snorkeling! We used our underwater camera to snap a few shots of the beauty underneath! It was a lot of fun... and very tiring! Our last night there, we had our "Farewell Concert Under the Stars" at the golf course. It was decorated with huge paper mache lighted globes, and lights in different colors were shining on the trees. Down by the stage were chairs set up with little tables. Everyone got a picnic basket with dinner inside and a bottle of wine to drink. It was so neat!After the CEO of Cisco gave his speech, he introduced our special entertainment.... THE GOO GOO DOLLS! I've never been THAT close at a concert! They put on a really great show! They had an after-party back at the hotel where we played pool and other games, and had drinks. My friend, Angie, and I kicked some executives butt at pool that night. So much fun! I tell ya... we felt like celebrities on this trip! Cisco really treated us to a week of beautiful scenery, great food, wonderful entertainment, great gifts, and much needed relaxation! Such a great trip... Now its back to reality and 30 degree weather. BLAH!

8 Days and Counting...

My husband does a lot of traveling for business. . . so I'm pretty used to him being gone. I think in the past 2 months, he's been gone a total of like 6 weeks. My Mom calls me a "job widow"! ha! I do feel like it sometimes. Fortunately, I'm not one of those wives that cant function without their husband. Granted, I'd rather him be home than not, but I am my own person, so when he's gone, I'm able to survive.

But this trip in particular has gotten me a little anxious. You see, Matt is on his way to CHINA!! Maggie and I took him to the airport yesterday around 5:30pm. Her and I were both in tears saying goodbye. Not to sound morbid, but you never know when the last time you're going to see someone is... so we always make our goodbyes count! So anyway, his plane left at 7:30pm last night, and he's not supposed to land in Hong Kong until 5ish our time today. He did have a layover in Los Angeles last night at 11:15pm, but now he's on the homestretch to Hong Kong. I'm really anxious about it because thats such a long time to be in a plane over the ocean! Oy... I hate thinking about it.

Fortunately for Matt, he's only going to be doing business about 2 days of his 8 days there. So he's excited to be able to sightsee and journey through the area. Matt asked our friends, Martin and Sarah, if they wanted to come along back a few months ago. Of course Sarah said no because she has an 8-month old daughter, and quite frankly, like me, had no desire to go there. But Martin did. Unfortunately, however, he flew a different airline to save money, so he actually just landed in Hong Kong about an hour ago. He'll probably catch up on some sleep while awaiting Matt's arrival. It should be interesting to hear some stories from the two of them. They're crazy when they get together, so I cant even imagine...

Sweetie, if you're reading this, we love and miss you and hope you'll be safe until you return!

Exhausted..

This is the story... My husband bought a new Infiniti G37S (sports car) last September. Great car - very sporty and fast. He loved it! Heck, I loved it! Its rear wheel drive, though, so of course, not the greatest in snow and ice. But that was okay because we purchased a Jeep Wrangler for him to use when the weather was bad. All was good, right? Well, then Matt gets this crazy idea to sell the Jeep because he hated having 3 vehicles. So I listed it on Craigslist and we sold it this past spring. So now they are predicting that this winter be a bad one! Of course he could always drive my Lexus because its AWD, but then what would I do for a vehicle? I drive Maggie to and from school everyday, so I'd need something reliable through the winter months as well. So Matt decides he's going to have to sell his Infiniti and buy something else. So he started looking and looking and looking, and finally after many trips to various dealerships, he decides on the BMW X5. Great SUV - roomy, powerful and great in the winter! We're done, right? Think thats where it ends? Nope... none of the dealerships here had what he wanted (black exterior, 4.8 litre engine, Sports package, 20" wheels, blah blah). He was bummed! So being the nice wife that I am... I went online and searched all the dealerships in KS, IN, AR, and IL to see if any had exactly what he wanted. I found one! Problem? It was in Lake Bluff, IL - 6 hours from here!!

ROAD TRIP! We decided, why not? We like road trips, and going up to Chicago will give us a chance to eat Portillos (the best beef in the world!). So I had to deal with the salesman over the phone to agree on a price (the sticker was 73K and we paid 66K - total steal!). We decided to sell his car to Carmax, which was a total risk (not knowing how much they'd give him for it), so Matt and I drove separate just in case something went wrong. To make a long story short (I think I'm a little late for that), we drove all the way up to Lake Bluff on Friday night, and on Saturday morning for 6 hours, we sold a vehicle, got a check, and turned around and bought an SUV!

And AFTER ALL THAT, we drove another 4 hours to Springfield, IL where we met up with all of my family for a weekend of camping! I just got home yesterday, and I am exhausted...

I hope we never buy another vehicle again. Or at least if we do, I hope its in the same state that we LIVE IN!!

I Never Wanna Sell Another House Again!

So we have our house on the market right now... not really the greatest time to be selling a home, but we thought we could beat the odds. I can't TELL you how stressful it is. Showings are the worst... you have to be ready to show your home at any given moment. With a child, a dog, and a husband (they're all kind of in the same category when it comes to this), talk about stress! I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to showing my home, so I guess I put some added stress on myself. Right before a showing, I like all the lights on, some lightly scented candles burning, a bit of jazz playing in the background, and our puppy far away from the premises! (Being in her crate and having people in the house, she would whine them out of the house in two seconds!) So I guess the reason I'm telling you this is because yesterday we had a house showing. Yay, right? Well, I thought so. I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get everything in order. I was finally almost finished when I went to the basement to get the extra vacuum. I thought I'd go ahead and turn on all the lights while I was down there. I went into the closet that my husband built for my off season clothes, and this is what I found...

I could NOT believe it! All my shelving had collapsed (which my husband says is a sign I have way too many clothes)! At this point, what could I do? NOT show the house and lose out on a potential buyer? Of course not! So I just left a note explaining the mishap and promised to fix it if they were truly interested in our home. Unreal... I told my husband that I am SO done trying to sell our house. So we may take it off the market for now and try again next spring.

Anyone looking to move to Missouri? ;) I've got a great house for you! In fact, if you'd like to check out the REST of the house that isn't quite such a mess, our agent posted our home on her site at http://www.lisaadkins.com/prudentialselect/modules/internet/search/includes/mapsearch/listingpopup.asp?mlsid=306&mlsnumber=80032158&l=y.

Its About Time!

Hey all.. yeah, I know - its about time, right? Where have I been in the blogging world? I swear, I felt like such a fish out of water trying to get a page together! I'm sure there is so much more I could do with this page.. but for now, it will do!

I've really enjoyed reading everyones blogs. I hope you all will enjoy reading mine!

Until next time...