tropical depression

I know what you're probably thinking. Tropical depression probably means I'm starting to get sad out here on this tropical island. Well, unfortunately it's nothing a little Xanax and champagne can fix. 

that arrow is pointing right at Guam. yes, Guam is small as hell

A tropical depression is basically a big ass storm, a lower strength hurricane or tropical cyclone. And this baby is headed our way. Maybe. We've been reading the updates from the weather center and this big guy keeps changing his mind on where he wants to go. He's being pretty indecisive on whether or not he wants to vacation in Guam or not. He's also moving pretty slow (about 3 mph), just kind of hanging out between us and Chuuk deciding what his next move will be. Right now the current estimated path is well east of Guam, but we would still be hit with heavy rains and sustained 30 knot winds with gusts reaching up to 65 knots. 

If it hits us, it'll be our first tropical storm since moving out here. We're pretty new to the island and have never made a typhoon readiness locker yet. So far we have lots of water, champagne, rum, beer and beef jerky. That's pretty much a party right there, can you think of anything we're missing? I think we'll make it out ok. All joking aside, we do have lots of drinking water, some nonperishable foods, flashlights and batteries. Our condo complex is on high ground, with typhoon shutters and a generator that will run our fridge and one light switch. But please, all of you mainland folk, cross your fingers, pray, or wish on a star that this guy takes a turn to the east or loses its mojo. Hopefully I'll be able to give an update on Monday.

Since that whole post was kind of a bummer, here's a picture of Guam when it's not stormy!

Ritidian Beach, when Guam is pretty!

finish this v3

This is part 3 in a series I got from Ruthie Hart titled finish this.

1. A typical day in my life... I make George his lunch, head off to the base to workout, grocery shop, come home and make dinner and clean. A lot different than my life back in California! On George's days off we try and make it down to the beach at least one day.

2. You'll never see me... running a marathon. They have at least one every weekend here on the island. Don't get me wrong, I love fitness and working out, but running is just not the sport for me!

3. It's really unattractive when a guy/girl... is rude to waitstaff. I was a server for years and never understood why some people just acted like you didn't exist or we're just plain unfriendly for no reason. If I'm out to eat with someone and they don't thank the server or are flat out rude, it always bothers me.

4. If I could buy one thing right now, it would be... a few new lenses for my camera!

5. I have high expectations for... myself and most people in my life. I feel like I'm such a perfectionist in all the things I do and I tend to expect others to be the same. I was once told by my boss that as a manager, I need to lower my expectations for my employees because I set the bar so high as to be on point with my own standards. 

wedding wednesdays-the dj

our DJ setting up for the ceremony

A trend I've noticed with budget brides is forgoing a DJ and using an app or a smart phone or a computer to create their own playlist for their wedding music. It seems like a good idea, but in reality, a good wedding DJ does so much more than play music. They help you to provide a timeline for ceremony and reception, they get people on the dance floor, they create a party. The good ones even get on the dance floor with you!

Out of all the vendors for our wedding, we had to do the most research in finding a DJ. In our hometown, we have a big name DJ that does really good work and most people use. They can be slightly more expensive, but I wanted to talk to them to see if they had any options or packages that work with our budget. I used their contact form on their website and waited. No response. I figured maybe their contact form isn't working. So I emailed. No response. So I called. No response again. By that time, I figured, they may be an awesome DJ, but if they aren't replying to me before they have my money, what will it be like once I hire them? Needless to say, it left a bad taste in my mouth and we started researching other Wedding DJs in the area.

We called several DJs and got basic information, but only ended up making a meeting with one of them. We met our DJ, Kevin Hill after looking at his website and reading some reviews online. He was friendly, more than willing to answer all our questions, insanely organized and not pushy at all. We really got a good vibe from him and decided to book him after our meeting.

The biggest thing that got us to book Kevin, was his organization. He had his website set up to where you can listen to a lot of the songs that are traditionally played at weddings. This really helped in planning out our song lists. Also, he had worksheets that we fill out that gives him all the information he needs to plan and execute a perfectly timed ceremony and reception. I'm slightly OCD and to know that our DJ had control of the situation like he did, put my mind at ease.

I won't go into detail about pricing, but I do feel like we got a great deal. He was very reasonably priced and provided a lot of services that are extras with other DJs. He also had a special going if we booked him before the end of the year, so that helped as well. He provided ceremony music, a wireless mic for our officiant, and music and lighting for the reception. He was on time (early actually!), provided all the items he promised and threw a great party. He even got out on the dance floor with us at the reception! Our friends who are getting married this June ended up booking him that night for their wedding!

All in all, we were very happy with Kevin and we think everyone had a great time dancing!

guam sweet home

front hallway from the entry way

It finally can feel like home here. We have all our things and our condo is all cleaned up and organized. George and I worked all day yesterday to unpack all the boxes and to find a home for everything. It's funny how much stuff we have that we've been living without for months. A lot of the things we unpacked, we had forgotten about. It felt like Christmas!

living room from the dining area

another view of the living room

Our TV feels huge to us because we've been watching a smaller TV since we've been here. We have a coffee table being used as a coffee table, instead of a TV stand. And a TV stand being used to hold the TV! We're living like real adults now haha.

office from the living room

another view of the office

I LOVE my office area. It's so nice to have a dedicated space to work and blog. I've missed my iMac a lot too! The desk is in a corner with a large picture window over looking the pool and a wall of windows on the other side over looking the ocean and our lanai. Lots of natural light too. George even started a fish tank to give himself a hobby over here.

kitchen from the hallway

matching kitchen things, fancy!

Out of all the boxes, a good 25% were labeled kitchen. As I opened each box and grabbed another one, I couldn't believe how much kitchen stuff we have! I even downsized our kitchen gadgets and left a bunch in storage before we left! The first thing I did today was make pulled pork in my crockpot. I never realized how much I used it until I didn't have one! We have real silverware, real plates, my Keurig, real knives, more than one pan with actual lids. It's so exciting! 

the messy girls' room

One thing we still have left is to fix up the girls' room. The only thing keeping us from that is the extra queen sized mattress taking up 90% of their room. George and I shipped our bed and the bunk beds. We bought an air mattress and planned on sleeping on that until our things got here. About a month in, knowing that we have another 2 months to wait for our things, we broke down and bought a new mattress for our room. We just couldn't take sleeping on an air mattress any longer. Now seeing our old mattress, I realized how old it really was. Probably good we bought a new one! The only reason we're keeping it around for now is so my parents have somewhere to sleep when they visit next month. 

our room, from the doorway. our view is the ocean and pool

our room, from the back corner by the dresser

Our bedroom turned out nicely as well. For the first time in close to 10 years, I have a dresser! I had been using these plastic drawer type things to hold most of my clothes for so long. But since we moved here, George convinced me to stop living like I was in college and buy a real dresser. It really matches our room well and we were finally able to get rid of the fancy plastic bins! 

The only thing left to do, besides fix up the girls' room, is to hang our pictures. The weird thing about Guam is that all the walls (with the exception of 2 interior walls) are solid concrete. Not easy to get a nail into a solid concrete wall. I may or may not have tried. So we have to buy these special concrete nails and hang them later. I'll let George handle that one!

so... many... boxes...

just a few of the boxes

 

Today was the big day. All our household goods finally got delivered. Where did all this stuff come from?!?!

 

half of these were marked kitchen, who has that much kitchen stuff??

 

There were so many boxes, all the rooms were full of them!

 

even boxes flooded the office

 

I'm exhausted, George is exhausted. We opted to unpack everything ourselves rather than have the movers unpack. It was so much work, packing paper everywhere!

 

all of this paper came from that small box, and there were things packed in there too!

 

So it took all my energy to log on and blog today. I'll update tomorrow with pictures of the place. But for now? I'm gonna open a beer and watch the new Walking Dead.

 



good news

We finally got the call! The movers received our stuff and we set a date up on Monday for the delivery! I'm so excited to have all our household items again. Oh and I've totally missed my Scentsy too. I can't wait for my house to smell all pretty! Since we'll be pretty busy helping the movers and getting situated, I probably will be MIA on here for a few days next week.

 

 George had the day off today and after he got some man friend time in, we all went to lunch at Sunset Grill. Amazing pizzas!

 

 his normal face, so handsome!

 

I love the drive through Agana. I take that back, the actual drive is wrought with construction and bad drivers, but the view is always so pretty!

 

Agana Bay. That building on the bluff is our condo complex

 

And then George's friend made a big mistake. He introduced me to a frozen yogurt shop on the island. It rivals my favorite shop back home. I'm gonna get soooooo fat. I love frozen yogurt and this place has fresh fruit, boba and at least 15 flavors of yogurt. Best part? It's less than 5 minutes from my house!

 

so yummy!



finish this v2

This is part 2 of a weekly series I got from Ruthie Hart titled finish this.

 

1. If I could make anything grow on trees it would be... patience. I am definitely the type to always be a little antsy. Being able to go outside and pick some patience off a tree would be wonderful!

 

2. I can't stop smiling... when I look at our wedding pictures. It was such a good day with so many loved ones around. I can feel the happiness we felt just by looking through the pictures.

 

3. I get back to nature by... taking a minute to stand out on our balcony and watch the sun set over the ocean. Every sunset is so different and so colorful here.

 

4. I dread washing... the sheets. It always works out to where I forget about them in the dryer and come bed time, when I'm super sleepy, I have to make the bed before going to sleep.

 

Can you finish these sentences?

 



wedding wednesdays-the officiant

Most of you probably belong to a church in some capacity and don't have to worry about who will marry you. However, for us, we don't belong to any church so we had to look for someone to marry us. I would love to give tips on how to find an officiant for your big day, but we didn't have to do any searching. Right after we got engaged, a good friend of mine called me up and said that he would love to be the one to marry us.

 9 years ago, online minister material right there!

Matt and I have been friends for 13 years. The first time I met him, he walked up to my friend Jessica and I and bet he could get 8 quarters in his nose. He lost that bet. He only fit 7. Who wouldn't want this guy to be their officiant? I'm only teasing, while sometimes goofy, he has been a really good friend to me these past few years.

 he cleans up nice, right?!

Matt had gotten ordained so that he could perform another friend's wedding about a year before ours. He also did a few other weddings before our big day. Regardless of his experience, I knew Matt would do an amazing job. He's comfortable being in front of people (I think he enjoys it!), he has a wicked sense of humor and he appreciates marriage and love. The ceremony he performed was touching, personalized and interjected with bits of humor. We cried and laughed. Matt and his wife Miranda are close friends of ours and I was so honored that he would be the one to marry us. We honestly can't thank him enough!

 He knew we didn't want a super religious ceremony and so he found a reading to share in place of more traditional readings. We loved it and I would like to share it with all of you.

Now you will feel no rain,
For each of you will be shelter for the other
Now you will feel no cold,
For each of you will be warmth for the other
Now there is no more loneliness,
For each of you will be companian for the other
Now you are two persons,
But there is only one life before you
Go now to your dwelling place to begin the days of your life together
May your days together be good and long upon the earth!

the 3 of us, laughter and tears

 

chicken marsala

I love to cook. I learned from my dad and watched him create many a dinner growing up. His technique was always one that came from within, as recipes were rarely followed. Sometimes they turned out great, sometimes they didn't. He has an inate ability to just know how to create something. I'm not sure where this ability comes from, but it must be partially genetic, because I have it too.

 

I've always been able to make some sort of meal using random ingredients in the pantry and fridge. Sure, I use recipes sometimes and I even follow them to a "T" on occasion. I will look through several recipes for ideas and inspiration and then wing it. Chicken Marsala, for example, I've looked up several recipes, all slightly different but all with the same main ingredients. Here's my version of this dish. Bear with me though, there are no measurements as my recipe was created in the moment and tweaked as I went along.

 

Here are the ingredients that I used:

Thin-sliced chicken breast

crimini mushrooms

shallots

chicken broth

cream

marsala wine

butter

olive oil

cornstarch

salt and pepper

 

el pollo

 

I start off by cooking my chicken breast in a little olive oil and butter, until golden brown on both sides. Then I remove them from the pan and set aside. Using the same pan, I add a little more butter and cook the mushrooms a few minutes, then add the shallots and cook together until both the mushrooms and shallots are cooked through. I then add a little marsala wine for flavor.

 

this smells amazing, by the way...

 

After the mushrooms and shallots are done, I remove them from the pan and set aside. Into the empty pan, I add the chicken broth (I used about 2 cups) and marsala wine (about 3/4 cup) and bring to a slow boil. I then add the chicken breast back into the pan. Lower the heat and cover, allowing the chicken to simmer in the sauce. After 10-15 minutes, remove the chicken breasts again. Whisk a little cornstarch with some marsala wine and add to the sauce to thicken. Once it's at the consistency you like, add however much cream you want. I don't like my sauce too creamy, so I added about 3 TBPS of cream. Season with salt and fresh cracked black pepper. Add the mushrooms, shallots and chicken back to the pan. Cook for a minute or so just to heat everything back up.

 

voila!

 

Serve chicken with the mushrooms and sauce poured over. I served my chicken with roasted, red potatoes and green beans. Oh, and don't mind the fancy plate, it's all we have right now. Enjoy!



from a to b

With all the planning and changes that come with moving 6,000 miles away, there's also the basic need to get all your stuff from point A to point B. How do most people accomplish this? Ask a friend who has a truck, rent a U-Haul, make a bunch of trips in your car? For us, none of these were options. We were moving not only far far away, but we had a large ocean in our way. Our options? Boat or plane.

Luckily, George's company has a contract with a mover and we arranged all the items to be packed up and moved to us in Guam. We were originally quoted a 4-6 week time frame from when they picked up out stuff to when it arrived on island. We would have to live with minimal items for a few weeks, but still doable. So the movers came, boxed and inventoried all our stuff and hauled it away to be placed on a boat. And then we ran into some issues with the company and that 4-6 weeks turned into 14 weeks. Big difference.

We were given the date of February 13th of when our stuff would get on island. Again, we figured there's nothing we can do about it and have made the most of the very few items we have in our home. Then last week we get an email from the local movers. Our stuff is scheduled to arrive February 11th and they will be contacting us to schedule a delivery once the items are released to them.

Today's February 17th and still no word. We've worn the same 3 outfits for nearly three months, cooked with one pan and a piece of foil as a lid, eaten off paper plates and managed without our computer. I'm ready for our stuff to get here and soooooooooooooo ready to have my crockpot. Hopefully by the end of this week I'll have an update for everyone.

I'm not trying to complain too much here, just want to share our experience of moving overseas. I want to be able to share all the ins and outs of the move, good and the bad. We may not have a lot right now, but we're on the ocean and we have each other and we're still happy with having to move.

valentine's day

This is the third Valentine's Day George and I have celebrated together. I honestly don't expect anything special on this day. I'm perfectly happy just spending time together like always and maybe doing something small for George. This year I decided to try out a recipe I found on Pinterest. I like using my free time to make little treats for George to bring to work and figured I would send him to work today with some little goodies. 

mini pie pop

 The recipe I got this idea from is here. I had to make a lot of changes to that recipe and found several things that needed tweaking. Here's my version of mini pie pops

Ingredients

1 package Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts

1 can of blueberry pie filling (21 oz)

1 egg, beaten

decorating sugar, for sprinkling

flour for rolling out the crust

10-20 lollipop sticks

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 425° and get your cookie sheet ready by spraying it with cooking oil

2. Sprinkle your work space with a little dusting of flour. Unroll one pie crust and cut as many circles with your round cookie cutter as you can. I got about 11, 3 inch circles plus 8 or so little hearts out of each crust

3. Repeat step 2 with the other pie crust. Then, roll out the leftover scraps from both crusts to cut more circles. Set all circles and hearts aside

4. On the greased cookie sheet, lay out as many circles as you can fit on your sheet. I fit 8 per sheet, make sure to leave space for the lollipop sticks

5. Press a stick into each circle, make sure they sink into the dough or they'll fall out once they've been baked

6. Put about a teaspoon of pie filling into the center of each circle. I used a little over a teaspoon and made sure there were 3 blueberries per pie

7. Brush the edges with the egg and lay another crust circle on top. Seal with edges with the end of a fork

8. Use the fork to poke vents in the top of the pie. This will help it vent and avoid filling spilling out of the edges. Brush each pie with a little egg and add a heart on top. Then sprinkle with a little decorating sugar

9. Set your timer for 6 minutes. My pies took 8 minutes, but you'll want to check them at 6 minutes, and then every minute after that. Depending on your oven, yours may take more or less time than mine. They're done when they're golden brown

10. Let cool on a cooling rack and repeat steps 4-9 until you've used up all your pie crust circles

 

 adding the filling

 all sealed up and ready for the oven!

fresh out of the oven, no filling spilled out!

I completely expected a Pinterest fail out of this recipe, but they turned out great! I was able to get 13 pie pops out of this recipe. I also have a ton of pie filling left over! I'm just hoping the guys at George's work like them!

Happy Valentine's day!

 

finish this

One of the blogs I follow, The Chronicles of Ruthie Hart, started doing a weekly series with other bloggers called finish this. I thought it was a neat idea and decided to try it out as well.

1. I first felt like a grown up... I still don't really feel like one! Although I would have to say that whenever my husband and I talk about investments or his 401K or taxes, I am reminded that I am a grown up.

2. I am one of a kind because... no one else has the same DNA as me?! Too generic/geeky of an answer? This one is a little tough. I think not many people I know have the opportunity to move to a tropical island, like I've done. Also, I've been through quite a bit the past few years and I've come out stronger and with some pretty crazy stories to tell.

3. Spanx... will hopefully never be required.

4. My favorite family tradition... Christmas morning when my dad cooks homemade biscuits and gravy and my mom makes us open our stockings while still in PJs and half asleep.

5. The last thing I do before bed is... brush my teeth, wash my face, kiss my husband goodnight and tell him I love him.

6. Happiness is... laying on a beach in the sunshine, with a nice cold drink in hand. Or that feeling of the wind in your face when you're on a boat at the lake. 

wedding wednesdays-the dress

The dress. So many girls dream about their perfect wedding and the first thing they think about is finding the dress. There are so many shows on TV about the bride's search for her perfect dress and the drama surrounding the search. For me, that wasn't the case. It took me one trip and I tried on less than ten dresses. When I put my dress on, I knew I would end up choosing it. I still tried on others, but my mind kept thinking back to the same one. I didn't have a huge entourage with me, just my mom, mother-in-law and sister-in-law. No one had crazy opinions about what dress I should pick and no one caused any drama like you so often see on the TV shows. We did however, all agree that the dress I chose, was the dress. So in one shot, in less than an hour, I found my dress.

As I mentioned before, I was a budget bride. I had a very small budget that I allowed myself to spend on a dress. I stayed within that budget and I didn't have to sacrifice quality and I was able to shop local. Most brides look to one of the large chains to find their dress thinking it'll save them money. That's not always the case. I worked with a shop in my hometown, Always Elegant, and found them to not only have high quality dresses, but worked well with my budget. I think the assumption with most new brides is that a local bridal salon will be out of their price range, but it's not! I used Always Elegant (AE) to dress my entire wedding party; the tuxes, the bridesmaids gowns, the flower girl dresses and my accessories. Aside from the attire for the wedding, the bridal shop offered something the big chains can't offer: personalized attention. You aren't just another bride, or another sale, you're special and you're treated as such. From picking out the dress to local vendor recommendation to all your dress fittings and general wedding drama advice help, Bree and her staff were there for me. 

the guys in their tuxes

I have a friend who is getting married this summer. She too is working on a budget and decided to go to a large bridal chain to try on dresses. She ended up finding a dress she liked and put a down payment on it. As a bridesmaid in my wedding, she got to hear about my experiences at AE and how my dress fittings were going. One day at dinner she told me that she didn't feel that she was getting the same attention and experience where she bought her dress. She felt like she was missing out on a huge part of the wedding planning process and the experiences that a bride should get to enjoy. She ended up trying on dresses at AE and found one that she fell in love with and ended up buying. She will now get to experience that personalized attention in planning her wedding that the big chain store just can't offer. 

 the girls in their dresses

So now that I've sung the praises of the bridal shop I used, I understand that not all brides live near my hometown. I do however, recommend that brides shop around to other stores in their area . Make sure wherever you decide to buy your dress and wedding party attire makes you feel like a bride and that your day is special to them. As far as finding the dress, as soon as you put it on and see yourself in the mirror, you'll know. 

the wedding party

american hustle and beach hopping

This weekend I did something that I haven't done in almost 5 years. I went to the movies. We went and saw American Hustle. We picked this movie for three reasons: Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams & it started at a decent time. I have to say I really enjoyed the movie. There hasn't been a movie soundtrack that pulled me in since Forrest Gump, but when Steely Dan started playing in the first scene, I got excited! I was (annoyingly) singing along the whole time.

 

We also got a lot of beach time and photography in this weekend. We started out Saturday by heading over to our favorite, Ypao Beach. We stopped by the ABC store on our way over and picked up one of those mini 6-packs of Sapporo. They didn't have any beer coozies, but the lady did give us this little cooler that perfectly fit the mini beers!

 

mini cooler

 

Sunday we went and checked out three beaches that I hadn't been to before. We met some friends at Old Wives' Beach on the Navy base, Ritidian Beach and Tanguisson Beach. I brought my new camera and got quite a few pictures at the first two beaches. Like I've mentioned before, without my computer here yet, I still can't upload any of my good pictures to this blog. Old Wives' Beach wasn't swimming friendly, but it seemed like a good spot to wade through tide pools, kayak or scuba dive. Ritidian Beach was amazingly gorgeous and I got a ton of great photos there. I promise once I get my computer, I'll share them on here. The water was a crisp, clear blue up against perfectly white sands and lined with lush jungle. So pretty. The only negative is swimming in not allowed due to the strong currents. On a clear day, you can also see Rota, the next island in the Marianas island chain. On our way back we stopped by Tanguisson Beach which is just north of Two Lovers Point. It didn't look like somewhere that welcomed swimming, but it was still pretty nonetheless. I did get some quick pictures with my phone at this beach.

 

Tanguisson Beach, looking north

Tanguisson Beach, looking south

it's tiny, but you can see the moon

George photobombing on accident

 

Once we got home, George showed me the pretty shells that he had collected at Old Wives' Beach earlier in the day. After showing me, he set them down and we went on about our night. About an hour later we notice one of the shells is making its escape. There was a little stowaway hermit crab inside the shell!

 

let me outta here!!

 

Out of the three beaches, Ritidian was my favorite. I can't wait to go back earlier in the day and get some more pictures. We ended the day with a quiet night at home, BBQing and watching some Netflix. Looking forward to this week, our stuff is scheduled to arrive finally!