Friday, December 31, 2010

Thankful for the past and exciting for the future!

     Well, a lot has happened this year. Trying to think back on everything would be crazy, but I will try to remember some. We adopted a new puppy that we named Oreo so we now own 2 doggies. Nate attended Airborne school and organized the German Badge for Knox. We made our first big purchase as a couple, our new Nissian Rouge. Nate and I moved to Hawaii, we celebrated 2 years of marriage and we also celebrated our 3rd Christmas together. I turned 25 yrs. young. We suffered a great loss with the death of Nate's step-dad Tim. We have made a lot of great friends here in Hawaii. I have become the FRG Leader, something I thought I would never do. I also have joined 2 coffee groups, which are so much fun and a great way to meet new people and have become the Treasurer of one.
     There are so many changes coming for 2011. Nate will be deployed to Afghanistan for 12 months. I will continue to be the FRG Leader. Nate's mom is coming to visit in Feb. and my family is coming in June. We are looking forward to spending time with everyone. My family will come after Nate leaves, so that will give me something to look forward to. Besides that who knows. We have a couple things up our sleeves for the next year! I hope you all have an AMAZING New Year!

Friday, December 24, 2010

Christmas Update!

    Oh goodness where to start? We have been quite the busy elves this season. We just wrapped up our pictures with Santa Fundraiser. We raised a grand total of over $2400 for the soldiers and their families. My FRG will get half of that. Not too bad for a couple days of work.
    Nate and I are hosting Christmas dinner. We have a big menu so I will be up cooking bright and early tomorrow. I am so excited to host my first Christmas Dinner.
    Tonight (Christmas Eve) we are watching a bunch of Christmas movies and eating a big "breakfast dinner". I made all my sweets to hand out to the neighbors last night so that is all done.
    The Battalion Christmas party went amazing. We had a lot of fun as did everyone else. I will have to post pics on the next update. We have recieved a lot of amazing christmas presents again I will have to show pics later.
    We finally finished our Christmas letters and got those out. to the friends and family.

    Well, that is all for now from the Balough clan. We wish you a very Merry Chirstmas!

Friday, December 3, 2010

Christmas time is here ;)

Well, not too much to catch up on...
     Things seem to be in full swing with my new position as FRG leader of Nate's company. I seem to have a meeting every time I turn around. We have an FRG Christmas Party coming up so that will be exciting. I have a FRG "Bootcamp" I have to go to this weekend, but one of my friends is going to so it hopefully won't be too boring, afterward we are going to go see Harry Potter.
    Nate and I are planning to have a party Christmas Eve and invite the neighbors. I need to send out invites soon. He just went on a staff ride the other night so I was able to make dinner for my friend/neighbor and her daughter. I love having people over, but often get scared that they won't like what I cook, but all went well and the food was so good. Nate and I have decided to wait to celebrate our anniversary until March/April. We are going to wait and do it right before he deploys. We are just going to go out to dinner and maybe the water park on our actual anniversary. Nate surprised me with an early Birthday/Anniversary present yesterday. I needed a new phone and I was just going to wait until closer to my bday to get it. Nate said we had to make a stop on our way to Bed, Bath and Beyond. He stopped buy at&t and said we are getting your phone now ;). I am officially on the "dark side" now. I LOVE my Iphone 4. Nate will get his when he gets back from deployment, but for now I let him play with mine.
     We are working on our Christmas letters. It is a tradition in Nate's family to send out a Christmas letter, so we are adopting it especially since we have a lot to update here from Hawaii. Nate's Dad sent us our Christmas present early. It is amazing! It's a Balough family cookbook. He put it together with all these amazing family recipes and cooking tips. I am so excited to get to use it and add to it. We still have to go out and get Christmas presents. Our moms are both covered and normally they are the hardest so that makes it easier on us. I still want to get Nate a few more little things since he got his big gift already (surf board). We have all of our decorations up and it feels a little more like the holidays, which helps when it is in the 70's outside.
   Well, that is about it for now I feel like I am forgetting some stuff. Nate leaves soon for NTC so that will be coming up. I hope you all are doing well.

Pictures:
Me hugging the tree :)

Nate hugging the tree

Our Tree

Nate on the roof putting up Christmas lights


Our walkway

Our wreath...I need to fix the H ;)

Walkway again

Garland

Flag

Stake thing

Front door.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Giving Thanks...

Well, it is almost Thanksgiving and I am just reflecting on all I have to be thankful for in my life. I thought I would just list a few:
1. A forgiving and gracious God who has given me all the things I am thankful for.
2. A husband I am so proud to call mine. He is so selfless and I respect him so much for his willingness to serve and fight for our freedom. He makes me oh so happy.
3. My family. I will miss them a lot this holiday season but I know they won't forget me :).
4. Nate's family (all of them, and there is a lot). They have adopted me into their lives and never fail to make me feel welcomed or included in all of their lives.
5. My friends on the mainland, you know who you are (too many to list)...for all of your support through the years and for those especially that make a point to keep in touch even though we are far away right now. We miss you guys like CRAZY!!!
6. For our Hawaii friends and family that have made the transition so much easier.
7. For a place to go on Thanksgiving.
8. For my puppies who keep me company ;)

I am thankful for so much more but these are the biggies. Nate and I just to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! We love you!

Pictures:


(Our "rock garden" before)


(Our pretty garden after)


(My new Battalion pin...not a good pic)


(This is paradise)


(Nate's dirt cake...so flippin good!)

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

So much for that...

Well, as you can see I have totally neglected this blog thingy. I have been very busy these last couple weeks and have realized it will be near impossible for me to keep up with the picture a day. I am still going to post pics but it was getting harder and harder to remember when I took each picture so I will just post pictures and label them rather than worry about what day I took them and so on ;).

I am so blessed to be busy! I love having stuff to do. I went to my coffee group this past Sunday and I had a blast. I am really feeling like this is home now. While there they announced they needed a new treasurer and so of course I was like I will do it. I am now the treasurer of our coffee group. It is really only a once a month thing so I won't be to busy with that. I had so much fun getting to know the ladies and doing crafts. I am looking forward to our next meeting in December.

On the FRG front, I am planning some fundraisers for the upcoming months. I also am planning a family FRG day coming up in January while the soldiers are deployed.

The holidays are around the corner and I am looking forward to Nate getting some time off. We are celebrating Thanksgiving with the Scotts, so that will be fun. I know I will miss my family this Christmas since it will be the 1st Christmas in 25years that I haven't celebrated with them. It will also be the first time in 4 yrs we haven't celebrated New Year's with Nate's Mom (Momma K). I am looking forward to spending my 3rd Christmas with my hubby and starting new traditions. Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday EVER! We are still trying to figure out what we are going to do for our anniversary. I mean hello we are in Hawaii what more could you want for an anniversary?

Nate heads out in January for a month "deployment" to California. That will be crazy, but I think I can handle it I mean I am a military wife ;). Nate's mom will be coming to visit in Feb. so that will be nice to have some familiar faces around. My mother, nana and uncle are going to be coming around June after Nate deploys.

Well, that is all for now peeps I will hopefully message again soon. Miss you all! Aloha!

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Well, hello all. I'm sorry it's taken me awhile to update. No real reason just being lazy. Not a whole lot has been going on. We had our first FRG Halloween Part on Friday and I think it went really well. We had a great turnout. I am excited to get into the full swing of being an FRG leader. We have a couple meetings coming up and I have a couple plans for some events in the next couple of months.

Nate leaves for NTC in January which means a month by myself...boo, but it all comes with the job. I will have to plan some stuff to do to keep myself occupied.

Hopefully Momma K will be coming to visit us in Feb/March. I am very excited to get our first visitor here in Hawaii. My mom and grandmother will be coming later next year during the summer. I am trying to plan a trip sometime next fall to come home and visit everyone. I hate riding in planes all day but it will be good to come home for a while. Nate and I have decided to extend our stay in Hawaii so he can go to a couple of schools before heading to finance. He would like to go to Ranger school and Pathfinder school so we are hoping that he is able to get into them.

Well, we had a good Halloween. Nate cooked steaks and baked potatoes and then he made a pumpkin pie. That morning we went to church and were reminded about faith and how faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains. I have been feeling like I have a couple "mountain ranges" in my way lately and being reminded that I can move mountains was def. a big encouragement.

Nate had been working late for the last couple of days so that means more time with my puppies and watching whatever I want on t.v. ;).

Well, that is about it for now. I will try to update again soon!

Monday October 25th (Day 65):

(Rice Krispy Treats that the hubs made)

Tuesday October 26th (Day66):

(Our roses that grow outside our door)

Wednesday October 27th (Day67):

(My mom sent me with a package full of Clemson stuff)

Thursday October 28th (Day68):

(Kisses from Oreo)

Friday October 29th (Day69):

(Halloween Party)

Saturday October 30th (Day70):

(Oreo trying on her costume for Halloween)

Sunday October 31st (Day 71):

(My husband on Halloween being a benched Ohio State player...I love him)

Sunday, October 24, 2010

It's that time again...

Well, it's time for another update!

Not a lot has been going on this last week. Nate had to go to the Big Island for PTA and get all the equipment situated. He left Sunday and got back Thursday. We decided it was time for a date night. We went to dinner and a movie. While he was gone I basically just stayed around the house cleaning up and keeping the puppies busy. The Scott family invited me over a couple nights so I didn't have to be alone. This weekend Nate and I along with Mrs. Shelia and her daughter went to the pumpkin patch. It is only open 2 weekends a year so it was packed. We had a lot of fun picking out pumpkins and eating shave ice. We found two pumpkins that we are going to decorate. Today we Skyped with Grandparents Balough and that was super fun to be able to talk to them. We also decided to make Crab Legs for supper, which is one of my favorites. We were going to go to the beach but I wasn't feeling very well so we just stayed at home and watched some movies.

I have been getting into the swing of FRG. I will take over officially in Nov. This means I now need a more high tech phone (boo). For anyone who knows me they know I hate phones and all that goes with them. There are too many people who are on them constantly and sometimes it can get REALLY annoying. All that said I am going to be getting an Iphone 4. Again, I am not a fan of Iphones but the sales lady said that while he (Nate) is deployed I would be able to skype with him no matter where I am. This will come in handy when I am out and about and Nate gets online I will be able to video chat with him even in the grocery store ;). That sold me on the phone so I will be going to the dark side in Dec. It will be my Christmas present ;). I am looking forward to getting started with the FRG.

Well that is all for now. Nothing much planned for the coming week but I will try to take some pics. I hope all of you are doing well...write again soon.

Sunday October 17th (Day 57):

(This was my Dinner after I dropped Nate off at the Airport...Sushi and Miso Soup)

Monday October 18th (Day 58):

(One of my favorite Halloween Candies)

(My very pretty/sleepy puppy)

Tuesday October 19th (Day 59):

(My new purse that Mrs. Shelia gave me...LOVE IT!)

(My new shoes and they only cost me .97 cents @ Old Navy)

Wednesday October 20th (Day 60):

(Such a pretty place to live)

Thursday October 21st (Day 61):

(My icecream/yogurt from Menchies it was Blueberry...so good!)

(Me and Baxter)

Friday October 22nd (Day 62):

(Nate with his lei and our puppies)

Saturday October 23rd (Day 63):

(We are having fun at the Pumpkin Patch)

(The Pumpkin Patch)

Sunday October 24th (Day 64):

(The front of our house decorated for Halloween)

Friday, October 15, 2010

A little Break...

Hello All!!!

Well, we have been back from Ohio for a couple of days and are trying to get back into the swing of things. I have put the pictures on a little bit of a break until this weekend. I hate taking a break, but some things have come up that had to be taken care of first. I will be back to the picture blogging tomorrow.

Our trip went well. I always love getting to see extended family, although the circumstances weren't that great. We had a lot of family time together and played a lot of fun games. One of the games was called Curses. It is basically a game where you act out different scenes and you have different "curses" you have to use (like speaking like a witch or swatting flies everytime you talk) this game reminded me of camp so much. I loved it. I love being able to act silly sometimes and this was a good time just to cut loose and forget the sadness. I beat Nate and won the game. We were able to take Nate's mother out to get her steak and then we went and had some late night fun, that shall not be named bc it might incriminate us ;).

I have decided after out travels that I am quite content with staying here for a while. NO MORE PLANES! I missed our home and our puppies. I am looking forward to family coming to visit next year.

I am now the FRG Leader for HHC Brigade. That will keep me busy for a little while. I will be in charge of making sure information gets out to all the families in the HHC Brigade and organizing meetings and get togethers. I am excited to get involved and meet new people.

Well, that is all for now. I am going to start the picture blog back tomorrow. We are going to the Hawaii vs. Nevada game tomorrow so that will surely be picture worthy. I am going to try to do more of a summation blog and then the pics to follow rather than the day by day blogging. I hope all of you are doing well. Thanks you again for all the thoughts and prayers for Nate and his (our) family. All were appreciated.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

The Good and the Bad...

Saturday the 2nd (Day 42): Was surf day!!! I had so much fun. We left really early (about 5:30am) and met the bus to go out to the beach. The instructors were all very patient and def. knew what they were doing. I caught 3 waves, on my knees. This was a big accomplishment since just before not being able to even balance myself while I paddled in. I would so recommend it to anyone. I don't have pics yet but I will go by and get them from the place. These are my sandy feet afterwards.



Sunday the 3rd (Day 43): was a crazy day! We just went shopping for some things. Then we came home and I made this spicy tomato soup with cheese dippers (SO FLIPPEN GOOD).



Monday the 4th (Day 44): I went with Mrs. Shelia to drop her mustang off. We then met our husbands for lunch. Afterwards I just came home and did a little cleaning and snuggled with Oreo ;).

Finished this project:


Pic for day 45



Tuesday the 5th (Day 45): I am now the FRG leader for HHC Brigade. That will be a lot of work but I am excited about it. We found out during the meeting that Nate's step-father Tim passed away. He will be greatly missed. This was not a surprise but it still is hard. He was suffering from cancer for a couple of years. Now he is in a place with no suffering. We are working on trying to get there as soon as possible. God is so good in that the Red Cross will pay for our flights home. This is a huge blessing bc we def. didn't have the money for both of us to fly home. It was almost $2000 dollars at some places for just one of us. We are just asking for thoughts and prayers for the family. Thank you for all of your support through the years.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Yay for October!

Here's an Update:

Sunday the 26th (Day 36): Well we were really excited to get up and go to church here at our community chapel. We got up early got everything together and ready to go. We got there and the doors were locked and all the lights were off. We then found out that service was going to be on the beach. Well we were def. not dressed in beach attire and we would be way late if we decided to head that way so we decided just to have church at a local restaurant along with breakfast. After we kinda failed at that we decided to head home and have our Back to the Future Marathon and snuggle and play with the puppies.


Monday the 27th (Day 37): Was pretty much a lazy day as far as I remember. I think I ran some errands with Mrs. Shelia then home to play with the puppies. Oreo is such a stinker this is how she falls asleep on her daddy:


Tuesday the 28th (Day 38):Mrs. Shelia and I hit up the on post thrift store. Finding fun things that are really cheap that I can turn into something amazing just makes me smile. Mrs. Shelia had to get tags for her new Mustang so we headed over to the office where that is done. We went into the restroom and I had to take a picture of all the random nick knacks(sp.) in there...craziness.


Wednesday the 29th (Day 39): I went with Mrs. Shelia to take her new car to get a check up to see if they could fix a chip in the car. We got SO lost. It was def. an adenture. After all of that we went to Goodwill for her to drop off some stuff and I have been looking for a window that I can turn into a picture frame SO BAD. Goodwill didn't have any windows (figures) but I found some other things I can use in my crafting.


Thurday the 30th (Day 40): DATE NIGHT!!! Nate and I went down to North Shore to eat at this amazing seafood place. It was so amazingly good and the view was so pretty. I love going out with the hubs!

View from our table:


Friday the Oct. 1st (Day 41): Today has been crazy! I dropped Nate off at work bc I had to go buy a rash guard shirt for surfing tomorrow, which I am so flipping excited about. Then I had to pick up some paint for my crafts and stuff. I have been very busy crafting for Halloween. I love decorating for each holiday. Then I was off to cleaning land. October is going to be jam packed with things to do. We have an island tour next weekend then we are attending a University of Hawaii football game and then some Haunted Lagoon. I am very excited to see what is going to happen this next month. Hopefully I can post some pics of the beach FINALLY and of Nate and I surfing ;). Aloha for now.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

So forgetful...

Here's an update!

Thursday the 23rd.(Day 33): Ok so I have developed a very bad habit of ALWAYS forgetting my camera when we go to the beach so for all anyone knows I could really be living in the remote mountains of NC or something. I was determined that when we went to the beach this time I was going to remember our camera and I did...but apparently you have to have a memory card for the pictures to get saved...DRATS!!!Anyways, Nate got off early this day and we decided to go to the beach and snorkle. The normal beach we go to had a NO SWIMMING sign up so we proceeded to go down the beach until we found a place to swim. We finally found a Beach Park and parked and started to the beach. The waves were HUGE and so much fun. We couldn't snorkle bc the waves were stirring up the sand to much on the bottom so we just spent about 3 hours "body surfing". Apparently a couple of people had already been sent to the hospital at the beach we were at bc of the roughness of the waves. They were even doing PA warnings to not be in the water if you weren't a strong swimmer. All that said we had a BLAST! I of course have no pics to show of it so we might just have to head back out soon. It's getting to be surf season here so it's going to become packed and the water is going to become rougher. Well, after we got back to the house I had some mail waiting on me...my bicycle license. Apparently here they take biking really seriously so this is my new license ;).


Friday the 24th (Day 34): Nate had to go back to his class to get his certificate of completing his training course and guess what? He got the top honor is his class. He had gotten 100's on all of his tests so therefore he was the honor student and was recognised with a special coin. I am so proud of him! When he got home he took me to get some craft supplies I needed to complete a shelf project I am working on. That was about it for Friday.


Saturday the 25th (Day 35): We have spent today being lazy and just working on the house. I finally completed a shelf project I've been working on. We had steak and homeade potato chips for supper = so good! I think we are going to start our Back to the Future marathon soon. Every time it comes on television we miss it so we bought our own copies and now we are going to have our own marathon ;). I hope everyone is well and I will update again soon...hopefully with pics of the beach ;).
This is my shelf project:

-painted it white

added stripes

made it into a flag

again

Hung it in the Laundry room to hold our beach and snorkle bag!