FINALLY! Koko Crater!

Aloha everyone! It's a bird, it's a plane, it's....me! Climbing Koko Crater! :) I FINALLY am reporting in on my climb up Koko Crater last weekend! :) I know, nothing like keeping you hangin' huh? I am proud to say....I...made...it! All in one piece too, and that's nothin' to snooze at! ;)

My friend Sara (the one I've been working out with) and I headed up there at about noon last Saturday, with our trusty cameras and water bottles in hand. When we finally found the path leading up to the crater, we took a deep breath, thought this ain't so bad, and headed up. Here we are, safe and sound and NOT sweaty at the bottom:

Here we go, right up this flight of stairs:

Here's a shot of the view about 1/4 of the way up:

and here's the oh-so-scary bridge over a ravine about halfway up that Tori did warn me about ~ but until you see it for yourself, you can't appreciate the scariness of it :) Thank goodness it's only about 30ish feet long ~ only VERY old railroad ties separate you from dangerous peril ;) Sara and I did kindof a crabwalk/hop up it ~ it was hilarious to see how other people wrangled their way up it. This was also where we stopped to take a loooong break ;)

So after MUCH huffing and puffing and almost going back down, we finally, repeat finally (and very sweatily!) hit the top!!! Go us! :)

Holy moly, I thought my thighs were going to give out, they were shaking so bad.
Here's some views from the top:

on the other side of this little piece of land is Makapuu, where my last two clues were, remember? And I thought that climb was high...see the difference? :) Here's another view:

Now, if you remember, Tori's last clue ended by saying "to the left of the top step by 3 rocks is what you seek." Now do you think that once I could catch my breath and looked for my long-awaited clue I could find it? Ohhhh no :) So I get out my handy-dandy trusty Sprint phone (customer service stinks, but the phone service rocks!) and call my sissy. Do you think she answered? Ooohhh no. Grrr. Eight tries later, I caught her. Phone was on vibrate. I was on the verge of a breakdown ;) Just kidding, but since this was by far the hardest hike to a clue, I was absolutely bound and determined I wasn't going down empty-handed. (Actually more like I'm not coming up here again! Haha!) So Tori directs us around the corner from the top, as in not where we're really supposed to go, and under some more rail-road ties. Around the bend from an old concrete lookout and to a plateau on the edge of a cliff we went. That's right folks, another cliff. Do you think she's trying to send me a message? Hmm...haha ;) Here's a picture of us with all the jungle of railroad ties and concrete lookout behind us, as we ventured off the beaten path.

Anyways, when we got to this cliff we were supposed to look for a painted poem. For a moment, I thought she actually painted my clue on this cliff! But it was somebody else's poem from a few years ago. Anyways, she had me read it to her to make sure that I was actually at the top and didn't send Sara up there to get it! Oh, the nerve! :) Anyways, once she was satisfied that I was indeed up on top of the crater, she said look under a big pile of cloth and it should be there. Guess what?! It was! She should've majored in clue-hiding instead of finance ;) My fifth double-bagged clue was safe and sound, just waiting for me. And it was sooo fun to have Sara there to share my excited, jumping up and down with glee, clue-finding moment with me. Now I have a witness! :) Here I am, in all my sweaty, clue-finding glory ~ see the green painted poem, on a plateau, on the cliff?

I won't make you sit in suspense any longer :) Here's what it said:

Congrats darling sis!
I'm so proud of you
this is hard enough
for anyone to do!

It must have been tough
it muse have been long,
I have a present for you
to keep you moving along.

Keep shedding your weight
keep showing your beauty,
or you won't enjoy this gift
because you didn't do your duty.

Sadly enough, your gift isn't here
Lanakai Beach ~ I'm very sincere.

That's where it is,
months and months of motivation.
And there lies directions
to one final destination.

What can I say? My sissy rocks! I am SO beyond motivated, and to date have lost 8 pounds, enjoy working out, and continue having fun incorporating my healthy choices into my everyday lifestyle. I love you sissy and promise not to let you down! :) Now I'm off to Tori's friends' house (who lives by the beach) to find my next clue...wonder what my gift is?! You never know...only one way to find out! Stay tuned to my adventures! :)

Love,
Jen (the explorer) Haha!

Easter fun!

Hey everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful and blessed Easter! Ours was very fun :) We got to talk to our families Easter morning, it's so funny how we're just getting up and ready for church and everyone at home was settling in for a relaxing afternoon after a belly full of ham :) The day would've been much more bittersweet if we didn't have the friends we do here! We have met some awesome people and are so thankful to have them as part of our military "ohana" (which if you've ever seen Lilo and Stitch you know means family ;)

Anyways, Bubby slept in until about 9 a.m. (he had a very busy social calendar this weekend ;) so we dyed eggs on the fly while he was eating breakfast. I think we were more excited about it than he was! He kindof tossed one egg into a color and then went back to his granola bar and banana ;)

Remember how I previously said that I was working on being thrifty and creative? Here's Bubby's very thrifted Easter basket ~ I even used his stuffed animal basket instead of buying another one :) It was complete with not one, not two, but THREE Little People getups from Jenny's garage sale! They are like brand new and now Noah gets to enjoy them for oh, a fraction of the cost ;) He also scored a box set of Curious George episodes, building blocks, wooden train set and an Easter Bunny Pez.

After we were done with eggs, we headed to Lanakila Baptist Church Sunday morning for service. Want to hear a funny story? The couple we bought Bryan's new car from (more on that later) invited us to go! So we got new friends, a new car, AND possibly a church out of the deal! ;) We've tried it out a few times now and we just seem to fit in ~ well, so far at least! :) There's several young military families just like us there, and they welcomed us with very open arms. That was greatly appreciated!

After church, we headed over to Jenny & Matt's house so that Bubby could do an egg hunt with his buddies Adam and Alex, who just turned 3! :) They had quite a good time, finding some real eggs as well as some plastic ones full of money! Ooohhh...here's Bubby pointing out eggs to Daddy...

And here's our handsome lil' man, looking so grown up! :(

Then we headed over to our friends Sara, Manuel, London and Logan's house. The kiddos had a great time hunting eggs and chowin' down some awesome ham! Manuel let me in on some of his cooking secrets ;) Sara even made Noah his own cute lil' Easter Basket, complete with Chocolate Bunny! :) Here's the kiddos at the "kid table" during dinner...

All in all, it was an awesome day to celebrate our Lord's resurrection with some wonderful friends!

Noah's new toy...

So I've been wanting to get Noah a play tunnel to crawl through ~ another fun way to burn off his boundless energy ;) I've searched high and low to no avail. But my friend Jenny found one at Target (gotta love Tar-jay!) and was sweet enough to bring it home for Bubby's enjoyment. Only when I went in there the other night, this was what I found...

Bubby giggling his head off at something...


...that something was the tunnel, only it was standing!?


Oh, silly Daddy! Tunnels are for kids! :)

Happenings!

I know it's been about four weeks since I posted about my Amazing Race my sissy set up for me ~ that's because I've been hard at work, training for the next leg! My friend Sara and I have been working out 4-5 days a week at our YMCA. I cannot believe I'm going to say this, but I'm in love with working out! :) I look forward to it every day. Oh, and I've been Mountain Dew free for 3 weeks! 3 WEEKS! Woohoo me! :) I do indulge in coffee (my new-found love) or an occasional Coke Zero. But if you know me at all, you know Mt. Dew was my refuge :) Haha!

We've been doing several classes a week, including Yoga and Pilates. I am sore when I leave but know that that means it's working and I'm doing it right! :) Bring on bikinis! Yeah, right....maybe next year ;) And then we usually follow up with either the treadmill, elliptical, or stair-stepper, and some weights. We affectionately call the weight room "the man room" since there seems to always be men in there ;) So next time you need a big laugh, just think of my crazy self doing the Downward Dog and ohmmmm-ing it on Wednesday mornings :)


So to refresh your memory, here's what my last clue I found up on Makapuu said:

Up the second time
now don't hate me
after all it's true,
repetition is the key.

Walk a mile, then two
three three and then four.
Til you carve yourself,
and you start wanting more.

It's all to get ready
for Koko Crater Peak
to the left of the top step
by 3 rocks is what you seek.

Koko Crater, according to Tori, is a bunch of steps. A WHOLE bunch of steps. She's been um, "encouraging" me to use the stairstepper to prepare. ;) Check it out ~

Hmmmmm, looks high :)

Here's an aerial view ~ you can see Hanauma Bay as well!


So whaddya think? Think I can do it? Check this view out before you answer ;)


It's obviously not safe for Noah to go, so I have to wait until Bryan is home on a weekend. Next weekend is pretty full ~ Noah's been invited to a birthday party for two of his new buddies! So stay tuned, it might be one of the next two Sundays... Yikes! :)

Noah's First Date

Hey everybody! Noah and I went on a Mommy/Son date last Friday night ~ I remember a long time ago seeing a Daddy and a Daughter out on a "date" and I thought someday I'm going to do that! :) I know it's a bit early, but Bryan had to go to Wheeler to be an escort for a platoon that was returning from Iraq ~ welcome home guys! Anyways, I was dying to go to Target ~ it's only been open for three weeks and I'm SO in looove ;) So we decided to make a date of it ~ Noah even wore his new Mom tattoo shirt! He's so darn handsome! :)


I just love that grin! :)

This one looks like one of those football player pictures to me! Actually, it looks more like Bryan's famous "enough-with-the-pictures" look ;)


So we got all dressed, had a scrumptuous dinner of Mac 'n Cheese, and headed out!

Ah, Target a la island style ;) A sight to behold...


We had a great time ~ we picked up some odds and ends for the house, and then topped it off with Starbucks! Well, an organic apple juice box for lil' man and a Grande White Chocolate Mocha with Peppermint Syrup for Momma ;) Yum yum! He's a pretty cheap date! Haha! We also worked on saying Please and Thank You to the cute salesgirl that rang us up. You know how Target associates wear red? Yeah, well here in Hawaii not only do they wear red, they wear red Aloha shirts! Very cute. :)

What did you all do this weekend? Anything fun? Hope it was great and hope to hear from all of you soon! Love and miss you!

The Willeys

Play Room!

Hey everyone! Sorry it's been a few days since I last posted ~ we've been busy feathering Casa de la Willey. :) It's been fun, exhausting, but also rewarding! It's hard buying things for your house when you're an Army family. Not only do you have to convince the hubby that it's necessary, but you have to fast foward three years and think, hmm will this work in our next house? Haha! :) Every house has different size windows of course...Oh the joys....I'm really trying to make an effort to be even more frugal and thrifty these days, as is everyone else. You all know how I love my garage sales, Goodwill, and now the Salvation Army Thrift Store! It's the thrill of the hunt ;) I've also spent some time looking at this blog: wearethatfamily.com That's exactly how I want to live ~ frugally and simply, but amazingly! Is that even a word? :)

Anyways, here's a few shots of Bubby's playroom! And no, it's not always this clean. ;) It's not finished yet, but I wanted to get these up and see if any of you had any suggestions. I think we're doing a bamboo shade over the window and I found a few pictures at Land Of Nod that I wanted to hang up. So much wall space, too small a budget ;) Here's his bookshelf ~


Here's a shot of his toy chest ~ aka my old hope chest! It's getting a coat of blue this weekend..stay tuned!

Here's the other side, right under the kitchen half wall, and a shot of Bubby still in his jammies ~

He absolutely loves having all that space to himself ~ you can find him coloring on his chalkboard, building with his MegaBlocks, or most often driving his Matchbox cars ALL over. And I do mean ALL over. Apparantly, to a 2 year old, even the walls are his racetrack. In fact, I think I'm going to change the name of my blog. Have you seen the hilarious blog Rocks In My Dryer? Yah, well I'm going to title this one "Matchbox Cars In My Couch." Seriously, have you ever sat on one of those? Ouch! :) Maybe Noah thinks that's their garage.... ;)

I'll leave you with this funny parting shot ~ Noah is 100% boy, but he hates having his hands dirty. His new thing is "hands! Momma hands! Waaaashhhh hand!" I think he gets that from me ;) Love you all!