"Love the Way You Lie"... 3rd Grade Style

I dig the original, but this parody is a fun one.  Enjoy!

North Carolina

For my post-deployment leave, my first stop was Fayetteville, North Carolina to see a handful of loved ones.  I didn't do a good job in documenting the week in pictures, but I can type all about it (from what I remember).

First Nate and I went to Fantasyland Waterpark.  It was a lake that had tons of rope swings, slides, paddleboats, etc.  The lake looked like iced tea (see pic below), but it was the perfect temperature and fun, fun, fun.

Then we went indoor skydiving the same day at Paraclete XP.  For about $160, we both got free gear rental, t-shirts, a DVD (which is VERY embarassing to watch), a basic skydiving class, and 3 trips in the wind tunnel.  Nathaniel was a natural- I was absolutely terrible at keeping a good body position.  Another girl in our group slammed her face into the glass of the tunnel mid-air though... at least I didn't do that!

Nathaniel and I also went to the Maroon 5 concert.  We tailgated and got to hear the first opener (VV Brown) from the parking lot and went hit the ampitheatre soon enough to see Kris Allen (some American Idol winner) and of course we got the FULL MAROON 5 EXPERIENCE.  :)  I danced all over our lawn area and we met some 2 new great friends, Niki and Shannon.

I got to have dinner with the lovely Meredith.  We roomed together for the last 3 years of college and we got to catch up on eachothers lives and discuss her upcoming wedding which I can't wait to be a bridesmaid in come January!

Nate and I went camping on Carolina Beach one night.  At Freeman Park, you can drive right onto the beach (if you have 4WD of course) and stay for the night for 20 bucks.  It was so amazing sit by the fire and be in the great outdoors for the evening.  HOWEVER, at about midnight I realized I was getting eaten ALIVE by mosquitos.  (We found out later that the rain brings the bugs out).  I renamed Carolina Beach "Bugbite Beach" and we resolved to just close the backhatch of the Cherokee to keep the bugs out.  Sadly, the humid summer kind of made that Jeep an unbearable hotbox.  We decided to grab a beachside hotelroom on the fly to ride it out until morning.  We get one and when we open the door, the doorknob falls off... and a giant flying cockroach starts attacking me and we realize we left the key in the outside doorknob and when we go out to get it, it's gone!  Nothing else could have went wrong... I felt like I was in a movie.  haha.  It turned out okay because Nate went to the front desk and we got a complimentary upgrade to another building of the "resort" and got a sweet suite.

The next night I got to stay the night in a cabin on Smith Lake.  If you live in the Fayetteville area, I totally recommend these.  For 35 bucks a night, you get a cabin that sleeps 4.

The next day we went to Cupcake Gallery.  It was a very cute place and the cupcakes are pretty good.  I got a coconut creme pie one, and Nate got a peach one.  Then we hung out with Nick and Christina at their pool which was lots of fun... mostly to hear Nick and Nate talk about their crazy Soldier stories...  Nick and Christina had to pick up their friends that were coming from out of town and Nate and I decided to hit Smith Lake.  My favorite part was the water trampoline.  They also had this huge inflatable cylinder you could attempt to run across.  When I tried it, I felt like I was on Most Extreme Elimination Challenge.  hahaha.  After Smith Lake we zoomed home to get ready to enjoy a dinner with 6 of our friends at Luigi's in Fayetteville.  Luigi's is delicious and has a comfortably classy atmosphere.  The wine selection is respectable and they have a varied quality Italian menu.  I recommend it!  After Luigi's, I got to hang out in the home of one of the loves of my life, Sam!  She was one of my lacrosse teammates and is one of the best ladies I know!  See us snuggling below:

And that was that.  I had to leave North Carolina in the morning.  :(  Next stop, STL/Illinois!

Back in Hawaii

People ask what I've been up to since I've been back to the island.  Well, just see below:

Finding a Home: I found a 2 bedroom 2 bath apartment with a yard and covered parking... so it'll do just fine for me for at least 6 months.  However, every shelf (kitchen AND bathrooms) was covered with cowprint.  The problem is resolved now, luckily.

Brigade Ball: This event was held before I even got my household goods out of storage, so I didn't even have my uniform to wear.  However my boss was cool enough to bring my case up and make it so that I could attend (I would just have to go out and buy an appropriate fancy-shmancy dress of course).  So with the dress and some borrowed items from Molly and Mrs. Nacho, I threw together an outfit.  Aisha was my unofficial date, even though I don't think she knew/knows that.  Afterwards I hung out with Leslie, Chris x 2, Dave, and Aisha.  All around... a good time.

Polo Match: Good friends, a makeshift BBQ, and horse sport... it was a good Sunday afternoon.

Beach: Getting my Hawaii tan back.

Church: One week, the a (the?) Korean children's choir came to perform and they were absolutely delightful, bilingual, talented, little people.  I got a hug too!

Sealife Park: Sealions, penguins, turtles, stingrays, and dolphins- they are all at the park and they all made me smile.  :)

Deployment #1: Complete

Sorry I haven't been updating.  I've been busy traveling back from Iraq and settling in.  "Settling in" is a lot harder than one might assume.  Anyway, I am satisfied with the experience I was lucky to have during 12 months in Iraq.  My Soldiers did their part, and I feel like I did my part too.  I worry that a lot that we have done for the Iraqis is not sustainable a lot.  The things that we needed to work on would require a whole generation's worth of time to change.  Time will tell.  I had a rough time dealing with certain people at times, but I stayed safe... and relatively normal.  When I first came back, I did not know what to do with myself... (wondering what I should do with all the "down time", always looking for my weapon, and was not happy with all the bills I now have to pay).  Luckily, I had a handful of good friends to welcome me back and bring me back to earth (namely Molly who hosted me for weeks upon weeks... and by "hosted", I mean HOSTED... she housed, fed, and clothed me!).