Ahh.....

Today was a beautiful day here in Hawaii. I snuck away to surf at lunch time and ended up going back to surf again after I got off work. I just can't help it.

I entertained myself with taking some photos along the highway back to work. Don't worry, I was wearing my seatbelt. I just wanted to share the view on the drive I make everyday to head to and from work.

Big Swell gonna hit tomorrow so we will see what happens. I am pretty excited for the long weekend.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

If you are my family reading this, I love you so much and wish more than anything that I could be meeting up and sharing Thanksgiving with you and giving hugs and smiles. I will be home soon, I can't wait to come visit. Maybe we could eat Thanksgiving meal then???

10 Weekends Left :-( I think??

Yes, I am counting down my precious weekends............

Saturday mornings start early for me and I really love that. I always look forward to the day's adventure. This Saturday morning I finally made it to the fountain to ride with the Quick Release Group and only 2 people were there :-( That was ok, but I really looked forward to seeing old friends for the first time in way to long. Allison and I went to the Pali, I really wanted to climb it since I haven't climbed a hill in what seems like forever.

We were very lucky with a clear, breezy, cool morning with NO RAIN!!

Here is a trickle of a waterfall on Nu'uanu Drive. I love this road, there is no traffic and all you hear is the sound of the stream flowing while you slowly climb in the cool mountain air :-)

I love flying down the Pali on the other side..... the wind was so strong I had to pedal most of the way down. It is so much fun. I don't have pics or videos of that because it is important to have both hands on my bars. A helmet cam would be cool though. Here is a picture that I found on the web, we decend in the lane that the white car isn't on. It was alot cloudier Saturday, but still fun.

Here is a picture that I took after we got to the bottom. As you can see it was cloudy, but still just a perfect day.

We ran into Katy in Waimanalo, she rode back with us to Hawaii Kai where she lives. Here is a not so straight picture of the ride back.

In the afternoon, I headed up to North Shore and paddled out at Gas Chambers. It was very nice and not to many guys in the water. I caught some fun long rights and got killed by taking a few big ones on the head. I love surfing so much, I just got a little cold out that day. Can you believe how cold I am going to be in San

Diego?

After the surf sesh, I went and got some coffee to warm up and headed back home. Sunday I surfed on the base at k-bay.... It was fun and not many guys out. I was glad to get some sunshine.

I am so excited that this is a short week and I can sqeeze some more surfing/riding in!!!!

Pastries & Retirement

If I have not mentioned earlier, Friday is my favorite day of the "work week"

Fridays are tough at work, there are treats sittting by my desk as soon as I walk in the office. I have to deal with this scenario atleast 2-3 times a week. Friday is a given and its unknown of the other days that the devil comes by and places these by my desk.

These things here are called Malasadas. They are Hawaiian form of a dougnut but instead of having a hole in the middle they are filled with Chocolate or Custard. AND..... They are coated in plain sugar or cinnimon and sugar mix.

Yes, they are evil but soooooo Good!!

Fellow Chief Darrin Lee had his retirement ceremony. It was very nice and I am glad that I didn't get emotional. I was part of the ceremony, I got to read the Chief Petty Officer's Retirement Creed and "The Watch" I have added some photos here from the event. Darrin will be missed by folks in the Navy, he was always there when you need him and when you needed a laugh/smile.

Here are some of the Chiefs lined up to be "Sideboys" That is what the "Official" Party enters through. Usually high ranking officers and the person being honored at the ceremony.

I don't know if I told you or not, but Darrin is 3/4 Ninja. Here he is on the right showcasing his skills with a sword on the cake! We got to eat some yummy food. Steak/Salmon and Veggies and I can't forget the wide worldly variety of beers that Darrin had there to offer. My beer of choice for the afternoon was Pacifico. I could only enjoy 2 now that I am a light-weight. I had to go jump in the ocean afterwards to kill my beer buzz.

100 MILES ?????

This week has been "Slow" for me! I am dealing with lots of pain in my foot so I have not been running and I have not surfed since Tuesday due to the CRAZY Winds that have been dominating the islands. I normally thrive on HUGE CRAZY wind swell, but this week I haven't really felt like dealing with the beating.

You can call me a whimp :-)

Lots of friends are in their final big weeks of training for IM Western Austrailia so today I thought that I would join them for a bike ride. I am suprised that my body made it the whole way and with a smile. It was such a fun day with the "LADIES"

We headed out from Kailua into some nasty looking weather. It turned out to be not so bad, only a few bad areas of rain and we tackled the tradewinds in a big pack so that made it more fun :-)

The beaches on the North shore were empty due to the nasty weather. This is a picture of Allison at Sunset Beach where it was windy, rainy, and cold in Hawaii. We are some spoiled gals aren't we. Notice the beach is completely empty which is super rare and you can't tell from the photo but the water is brown due to the huge amount of rain we have had this week causing lots of run off.

Here is my in motion photo of an empty brown water Waimea Bay!

Oh yeah, we had to get a VOGUE Shot in at the world famous "Hygienic Store" where we stopped for a yummy Coke-Cola :-)

I love Hawaii and my friends that I have here. I want to cherish every second that I have with this great place and wonderful people.

Aloha and have a great weekend :-)

Freedom Isn't Free

Aloha! Today was for remembering those who have sacrificed their all for our country and our "FREEDOM". I don't know if 10% of Americans ever stop to think about how wonderful we have it compared to the rest of the world, but after traveling the world for the past 10+ years "I GET IT". I am very thankful to be American. No matter how tough things get for us, we can not fathom what others around the globe deal with on a daily basis. SURVIVAL, is what is on most of their minds.

I finally Slept past 7am :-) after waking up naturally at 5am to pouring rain... but It turned out to be a beautiful day minus the wind so I took my board and my camera on a journey to North Shore. I found out that North Shore looked like windward side surf... Oh well!! I still enjoyed the morning!

I entertained myself today with my camera instead of my surfboard.

At Haleiwa they are making preps for the Reef Hawaii Pro and I ran into an old friend who is visiting from San Diego.... WoW its a small world.

Here we are before I had to run off. I look forward to crossing paths again with my good friend Anthony!

These groms were ready to get in a catch some waves.... I hope that they caught a wave or two for me!

I love Hawaii and will cherish every minute that I have to spend here until I depart in the New Year :-)

Catching up!

It has been a really long time since I have posted anything. The great news is that I am complete with my "Induction" to becoming a Chief Petty Officer. My anchors got pinned on 16th of September, The Greatest Day of me Bloomin Life!!
I went throught 6 weeks of "training" where we breathe, eat, sleep, think nothing but NAVY!! NAVY CHIEF, NAVY PRIDE!! It was wonderful to make so many new friends and learn so much about what lies ahead in my career as a CHIEF! My mother was here visiting afterward and we had a great little vacation. I have alot of blogging to do to catch up to where life is now, but this was were I left off.

This is me.... back in September getting my Chief cover. Cover means "HAT" for normal people :-) That is my beautiful mother in the blue!

Before I received my cover, my mother and Paul Kamanuwai "pinned" my anchors on my uniform. This is a very special ceremony.... I chose Paul because he was the most influential leader that I have had in my Naval Career. He showed me what it meant to take time for and care for someone that you seen potential in. He is retired now, but I hope to fill his shoes the right way!

It has been a really long time since I have posted anything. The great news is that I am complete with my "Induction" to becoming a Chief Petty Officer. My anchors got pinned on 16th of September, The Greatest Day of me Bloomin Life!!

Here are the "New Chiefs" awaiting our special moment :-)

After the pinning ceremony, I got to see co-workers from present & past. I also got the warm suprise of FRIENDS who came to share this special day with me. I was filled with Joy and so was my mother. I am happy that she got to share the day with me.

I will have to post a picture later sometime of what my face looked like after being awake and "having fun" for over 30 hours straight!!

TGFS

THANK GOD FOR SURF!!!

I finally got to get in the heavenly surf yesterday for the first time in over a month....... AMAZING!!!

I forgot how wonderful the water feels going over my body when I duck dive under a wave. I haven't felt so great in a long time and I have had some really fun days lately but nothing compares to the way I felt during my 1 hour surf sesh yesterday evening.

Thank you OCEAN!!