The Unlikely Disciple

Before we went to Hawaii, we visited the bookstore. Since we were going to be on a 9hr and 44min direct flight from Atlanta to Honolulu, I thought surely I'd get through one book if not two. Chef and Bro. Jeff ALWAY read when they're on vacation and come back and tell us all about what they've learned, so this was my plan as well. However, I failed to account for the fact that I am too ADD to finish a sentence, muchless a book. I took 3 books and didn't make it even halfway through one. I started 3 or 4 different movies and only made it through one of those. My sister, however, started this book when we took off and read for I don't know how many hours before she finished it. All in one day. It's about a guy that went to Brown University and took a semester off to go to Liberty University. HILARIOUS, she says. Here's a clip of him telling about the book. It does look funny and she definitely recommends it if you ever need something to read. Enjoy. :0) http://vimeo.com/11915973

Today's News...

We all know I love me some TODAY show. So of course, this morning, I was tuned in at 7am for the daily report. When what to my wondering eyes should appear but PARIS HILTON'S BEEN ARRESTED AGAIN. How stupid can this girl get? How many times do you have to be threatened AND go to jail before you realize you are a complete moron? For starters, if you are pulled over on suspicion of marajana (for the second time in a few months), WHO thinks it is a good idea to put on lip gloss while being questioned by a cop? She apparently did. That was her excuse of why the cocaine fell out of her purse. "Oh, but it wasn't my purse" she said. Then who's purse was it? Your boyfriend? I think not. And can she seriously expect us to believe that she thought it was gum? One is a white powdery substance, the other pink and chewy. Unless you are deaf, mute, blind and without tastebuds, there is no possible way to confuse the two. Oh Paris. The one thing you have going for you is that you are always prepared to make a pretty mugshot. I seriously hope we don't have the 24 hour watch going on her this time when she goes to jail... That is all. :0)

My 2nd Graders!

Oh how I missed those kids! I left them sweet, little, quiet kids and came back to fiesty, fun, motor mouths! They were talking a mile a minute. Becky had told me she wouldn't let them have their cake last week because they were awful. I told them they had to be good to get their presents from Hawaii... they were somewhat controllable. There were 2 incredibly funny moments. One was when we were taking prayer requests and we said we'd pray their school went good this week. One little girl said, "I'm home schooled" and we assured her we'd pray for her mother. Then she started telling us all that they studied. When we finally got back on track, Becky prayed a beautiful prayer and as soon as we said "Amen" our little girl picked right back up with "AND I WRITE IN CURSIVE". Poor Becky just looked at a loss for words. It was very funny. You had to be there. The other funny part of the morning was when they were coloring their pics of Adam and Eve. I assured them I thought it'd be a GREAT idea to put clothes on them. After all, I don't want to send these kids home with pictures of naked people! How awful would that be?! And then one of our precious angels decided to draw boobs on Eve. Her Adam and Eve were both anatomically correct. I just had to walk outside to look for more kids. I was about to crack up. Somehow they also ended up with lawn mowers in the Garden of Eden. It was HILARIOUS! :0)

Hail to the Cheif (well, actually his wife)

Tonight was the annual Heritage Christin University Fundraiser at the Conference Center. Last year's speaker was Mrs. Pam Tebow. Tim Tebow's mother. This year, it was Mrs. Laura Bush. I was rescued and got to work upstairs in 360 instead of in banquets. Last year I swore I'd never work banquets again after that night. It was crazy. This year, however, we were very busy, but it was a great night. 2 observations... #1 I'm very unobservant. We were about 45 minutes into dinner service before I realized Mrs. Bush was already there. I think I even served her and had no clue it was her. Which leads to #2, she is very petite. She is very small in person, but absolutely gorgeous. Such a pretty lady. She was very well put together and sporting a fashionable teal suit. And from what conversation I heard, she was so stinkin' nice. #3 I'm not so certain the secret service has a sense-of-humor. And they aren't so secret when they introduce themselves as secret service. I mean, come on now, shouldn't that be a secret? I even know her code name now. I'm just thinking they should be incognito at all times. HOWEVER, they are incredibly intimidating when you get off an elevator with a pink Happy Birthday bag and they look as though 6 big men are going to pounce you and take away the bird house shaped like a frog inside. I'm just saying... :0)

MoKuaiKaua Church

This is the MoKuaiKaua. The first church ever build on the islands.

It was absolutely beautiful from port. You could see the steeple peering out from behind the trees. It wasa little stuffy inside and they leave the church completely open to the public all day, so I'm not sure they have air conditioning. But, it was beautiful. Most peaceful place on the most beautiful island. Kaui, definitely the prettiest of the islands. It's much more laid back than Oahu or Maui. My fav! :0)

Landscapes

I know.. this is probably what you've been waiting for. I can't even describe the beauty of the Hawaiian islands. These pics definitely don't do them justice.
Top left (with the rocks) is Maui. Gorgeous beach! Top right is the Napali Coastline. Parts of it reminded me of the Harry Potter castle. You just had to be there. The bottom, I don't really remember. It was probably Oahu or the Big Island of Hawaii. Either way, it wouldn't be hard to be a postcard picture taker over there because just about everywhere you look, it is BEAUTIFUL!!! :0)

Volcano National Park

This was amazing. I thought volcanoes went up like triangles. You know, like the paper mache thing you make in school. NOPE. They actually look like big potholes ~ at least these did. Someone told me they blew their tops off. I don't know if I exactly believe that or not. It was really neat though. And they collect rain water and filter it through sand and have a fresh pump where you can fill up your water bottle. Cool stuff. :0)

The Statues...

I think this stop was in Maui...

We found a cool little shopping center in town that had a million stores and a million wooden statues. These were some of my favorites. We have a pirate, a sailor, and oh, look... I didn't know Hitler was from Hawaii! Probably should've read that sign beneath him to find out who that guy actually is. :0)

Everybody say, "Titanic!"

I love these pics.

This was the first day on the boat. We had to do a safety procedure in case an actual emergency were to happen. Everyone on the boat had to go out and put on thier life vest. Seeing as how we were practically on a floating nursing home, I was confident that I could outrun any other passenger to the lifeboats and I could also outclimb them if needed. However, we all obliged and went out. Here we have Roger (who I call Marge), Rita (who we call Grandmother) and Sister. The other little fella was supposed to be our leader in case of emergency. I don't know why, he just made me laugh hysterically. Fun times. :0)

WARNING: You Must Have a Sense of Humor To Read...

I wasn't kidding. You must have a sense-of-humor to view this blog. We were stuck in the Honolulu Airport for about 5 hours, so I made many trips back and forth, up and down the hall, etc. On one trip, I ran across this statue. I immediately had to take a picture of his behind. It made me laugh. Nobody else thought it was funny, but I thought it was hilarious and I'm confident my Aunt De would've totally agreed. She would've probably appreciated the pic. I also snapped a shot of the description so that you would actually know who he was. I still haven't read it because I really wasn't that interested. The backside is what cracked me up!

Mimosa Piduca

Mimosa Piduca... what is that you may ask? Hawaii Sleeping Grass! Freakiest thing ever! We also saw this while ziplining. It looks like a really smal fern, and when you touch it, it looks as if it has just wilted in front of your eyes. When it's no longer scared, it comes back to life. Criz-azy! This is sister putting a bush to sleep. Hopefully you can see it and get the picture. Strange... :0)

Zipping!

This was the coolest! I probably should've made a straight video, but there was SOO much to see I tried to get it all. I was also going about 55mph so a perfect video would've been impossible. You get the picture. THis is our wonderful zip line adventure. We went on 7 different courses... one of which was over 900 feet long and over 200 feet high. It was awesome!!! Best.Excursion.Ever.

The Best Guy on the Cruise... Jeff!

Meet Jeff. The NICEST guy I have met in a VERY long time and coincidentally the cutest guy on the cruise! He sings with Karen Peck and New River. Couldn't find a video for you to watch, but trust me, he is good. Did I mention nice? I had such a good time chatting with him throughout the week and ended Hawaii on a happy note when I met him in the airport. Oddly enough, he also lives in northeast Alabama. There were 10 people from Alabama on that entire boat (my fam being 6 of them) and Jeff just happened to be one. This definitely ranks as one of my top photos of the trip. :0)

Autograph Day!!!

This day was fun. It was autograph day on the boat. Since we went on a Gaither Homecoming Cruise, we got a concert every night and a day to take pics and get autographs from the Vocal Band. I'm warning you now, this will be a long post because there's a lot to tell. You might want to go refill your coffee before we begin...

In the picture with me and two guys in almost white shirts, we have Wes Hampton and David Phelps. Wes is from Alabama and really sweet. That cute little curly headed fella is David Phelps. He is the BEST tenor ever. If you've never heard him, stop what you are doing and listen to this,http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSTyP404O_Y&feature=related or just go out and buy the new Vocal Band CD "Better Day". Or (yes one more) youtube David Phelps Let Freedom Ring. It is CRAZY good. I think everyone like me and my sister and anyone else that got absolutely NO musical talent, God must've given it all to David. He is amazing. In the next pic, we have (in the black shirt) Mark Lowry, resident comedian in the vocal band and (in the gray shirt) Michael English. I managed to crack up Mark which I thought was quite an accomplishment considering he is a comedian, thus the funny expression on his face. Thus bringing me to an ADD rabbit trail. When Mal and I (my bf since we were about 5) used to go out with the guys, they would always spend what seemed like forever telling her how gorgeous she was and blah blah blah, then they would look over at me and be like, "Kim, you're so funny!" That is NOT a compliment no matter how you spin it, thank you very much. At least not after you've been ooooing and ahhhing over Mal for 10 minutes. So, if you don't have sons but will one day, nephews, grandsons, or any influence over males whatsoever, tell them to always avoid this mistake because there's a good chance it will get them hurt. They might possibly lose feeling in their shins and could suffer a concussion depending on what type of mood I am in. I have made my sister promise to teach her children that as well as mine if I'm not around. Now.. back to autograph day. The last pic is Gloria Gaither, me and Bill Gaither. The 2 cornerstones of southern gospel music. Seriously. They wrote "He Touched Me". And surprisingly, two of the nicest people. They seem nice on stage, but to meet them in person, they are awesome. We shared a plane with them on the way home and sat in the airport with them for a while. Nice folks. :0)

Pearl Harbor

You can't go to Hawaii without seeing this place! Pearl Harbor is located on the island of Oahu and is a MAJOR tourist attraction. It is both solemn and BEAUTIFUL! Here we have a few pics from our morning at the memorial. Normally there's about a 2-3 hour wait just to get in. The NAVY plane is just here because it is at the memorial and I thought it was a good picuture. The tomb is sitting in front of the wall of names of all of the service men/women that lost their lives that day. The tomb itself has the names of all of the people that survived that day, but wanted to come back and be buried with their brothers when they died. It made me think of the cute little old men that I got to say "Aloha Coach Finley" on my home video for my history teacher when we came over 8 years ago. Hopefully they're both still alive. :0)

I'm Baaaccckkk!!!!

10 days in Hawaii... not even sure where to begin. I will definintely be doubling up a few posts this week to get caught up. I'm never sure which order
my pics will be in, so I'll just briefly describe each. For starters, Hawaii is 5 hours BEHIND us. So when we arrived at around 2pm in the afternoon, it was already our 7pm - not to mention we had a 9 hr and 44 min direct flight from Atlanta. We (actually just I) didn't want to waste a moment of our time there, so we made the stupid mistake of hopping onto a public bus to try to go to the North Shore. It weaved in and out of nowhere for about an hour and a half before we finally got fed up and got off - the driver said it was still a long way to Waikiki and the North Shore which if you are driving straight only takes about half an hour but he was stopping every 2 seconds so it was the bus ride that would never end. So we got off and went to Red Lobster where I met, Brian. My second friendly, fun Hawaiian who I almost had convinced to teach me to surf. He's the cute guy in the white shirt with me. My first HOT Hawaiian buddy was a guy that I was stuffed on the bus with. There was no breathing room and we were standing so we were very friendly. HOT guy. Really nice. Never did get his name. Anyway, then we started the trek back to the Hotel and went across a canal where i took the group photo. Everyone was about angry at this point because it was getting very late AL time and we were all exhausted. Then we got back to the Hotel and Cynthia went to find ice. WELL, this was about a 1950s model, one step above a hostel, in the slums kind of "inn" so the little man at the front desk told her to just walk in the bar and get some ice. She was flabbergasted as she has never been in a bar. Being Friday night, a few locals were there doing kareoke. Hysterical. So she runs back and gets me because I'm the only one in the room who finds this remotely interesting or funny. So we went back and enjoyed a little kareoke time and took pics with the ring-leader. By this time it was about 3 am AL time and we were about to collapse. Fun way to start a vaca! More to come tomorrow. :0)

I'm leavin' on a Jet Plane...

Whoever came up with the rule that you can only check ONE suitcase on a plane must've been a man! How in the world am I supposed to pack for 10 days and fit it all in ONE suitcase? I have to have at least 2 outfits per day! Not only do I only get one suitcase, it ALSO has to be under 50lbs. There's no possible way. I only have 2 pairs of shoes in there so far! This could be a bit of a challenge ~ however, my sanity lies in the fact that in 48 hours, I'll be in Oahu!!! This will probably be the last post until August 22nd when we return... so until then, ALOHA!! :0)

BIG night!

Tonight's the night!

Tonight the Duggars are BACK for a brand new season of 19 Kids and counting. Our sweet baby Josie is out of the hospital! Yes, Jess and I have both said that we feel as though we should be part of this family by now. We are very invested. The Duggars are awesome! Josie was born about 3 and a half months early and only weighed 1 lb and 6 oz. Teeny tiny baby but now she is out of the hospital and weighs a whopping 11 lbs. Some people think they are crazy but I think they are fantastic! The whole fam (including Grandma and Josh's wife Anna and daughter Mackyenzie) is pictured and cute little Josie is the other pic. Season premiere is tonight at 8pm on TLC! :0)

Big Foot!

Guess who went to Target again?! We were doing some last minute shopping for our HAWAII trip and as we were rounding the store we passed the toy section. I HAD to see what wonderful new creation they had for me to push a button and set off. This week, it was Big Foot. How cute is this little creature?! At one point, I thought he was coming through the glass. Kinda reminds me of those Beef Jerky Sasquash commercials. Uncle Dennis thinks they're hilarious. :0)

My Kids!!

Today was our first class together and it was a BLAST! Becky and I are officially leaders of the 2nd Graders (A-H) of Grace Life. What a great group of kids they are!! I was a bit nervous going in because I've only ever had the 5-year olds, but the bigger kids are just a cool. They even sit quietly and actually listen to the lesson! We did a pretty pic first then I told them to make a crazy face... I think they enjoyed that one better. Here, we have (back l-r)Maggie, Macon, Mallie, Aubrey, Anna, Jonah, Daniel and (front) Halle and Santana. We are definitely looking forward to much more fun and excitement and I'm confident I'm going to learn more from them than they learn from me. :0)

Guess Who's Having a B'day?!

OK, pop quiz blog pals. Who in my fam loves some crazy boggins? (Besides me...) If you answer Sister, YOU ARE WRONG. If you answered my cousin Andrew, YOU ARE RIGHT! Andrew just celebrated his 18th birthday and is having his par-tay at Grandma's this weekend. In honor, I went out to our fav store and found him yet another stylish hat. This time, it's Oscar the Grouch. Happy Birthday, Andrew!! Love you! :0)

My Sister is Fabulous...

I've had the same alarm clock ever since I moved to Muscle Shoals. It was a good little alarm clock, but recently, it decided to only let me set the alarm for either 3 or 4 am. There was no other choice. So, I've been setting it for 4:59am. This may not be early for most of you, but I'm still in a coma at 4:59am. It usually would be like that for a few days, and then it'd kick back over to letting me use all the numbers so I could set it for a more decent hour. During those times, I would set the alarm on my cell phone. However, I also recently "temporarily misplaced" my cell phone for 3 or 4 days so I was really out of luck. The cell phone was finally found in a box of spa shoes in our 6th floor storage. The alarm clock, still wouldn't return to fighting form, so my dear Sister bought me one tonight. Isn't that fabulous?! It's bright green and even has indiglo. I can push that button all night and watch it light up. So exciting. Obviously, it doesn't take much to make me happy. :0)

Observations from the Mall...

Sister and I went shopping for some Hawaii shoes tonight. We went to a few different places, but as always, started at the mall. While there, I made a few observations as follows:

1. I hope that if the Good Lord ever blesses me with children, they don't grow up to be freaks. I saw a few.

2. I hope that if I live long enough to be an OLD woman, I won't think that old women clothes are cute. Ever.

3. Again with the kids, I hope that my children aren't annoying to everyone around them except for me. I at least want to know when my child is driving people to drink.

4. If we never get to the married with children part in our lives, I think it will be okay if Sister and I kick it by ourselves. She's the most fun shopping partner I have. :0)

1776

The greatest most wonderful musical to hit the big screen... 1776! I fell in love with this movie in highschool. Mr. Cleghorn was fabulous in that he let us watch it more than we probably deserved. He says we're still the only validation for him showing it to his present classes. It wasn't just us girls, the boys loved it too. They did great impressions and of course we all had to sing along. Sister recently found it online and ordered it. A little nerdy? Maybe. But a GREAT movie, nonetheless. :0)

The Church Lady...

Funny story! Sister returned from a weekend and Nauvoo with absolutely no gas in her car, so after church, we headed to Wal-Mart to pick up a few groceries and get some gas. She was ahead of me, so she pulled in and about a minute later, I pulled in the pump behind her. Well, I noticed she was out talking to some lady and she said, "Well, I'm sorry about that." Then she gave me the funniest look so I knew something was up. So I started my gas to pumping and walked over to where she was and asked what all that was about. Apparently the crazy woman had pulled up after she had and then said she should've reversed into my spot so that lady could have the pump. "I was already out and pumping!" was Sister's valid point. Anyway, the crazy church lady got OUT of her gas-guzzling SUV just to tell her that it would've only been polite for her (Sister) to boot me out of my pump so that she (church lady) could fill up with gas. Even funnier ~ there were like 4 empty pumps around us all. Hil-arious! :0)