Rough Week

Man, it has been a rough week getting back into the swing of normal life! Especially when I'm not sure that I'm really enjoying my "normal" life right now. My house is in chaos, as it has been for 8 months, and my job is increasingly mundane every day it seems. When times like this come in my life, I know that there is something that is coming. It usually me getting my own butt in gear and tackling whatever it is that is irritating me. Right now, I fear that the house is first on my list. Fortunately, our in-the-8th-month-of-remodeling kitchen will have countertops installed on Friday. This means that even though there will be finishing touches that will need to be done (like baseboards, cabinet hardware, cabinet molding and toekicks, etc), that the kitchen will be a huge step toward being functional and I will be one huge step from having to wash dishes in my bathroom! The last thing that would need to be done is the sink plumbing, which would include hooking up the dishwasher and garbage disposal. I'm so excited! Anyway, this will allow me to move all the kitchen stuff that is spread across the house into the kitchen and start to actually unpack and settle in. It is about time! We've only been living in the house for 8 months now! I'll make sure to post a picture of the kitchen with the new countertops after they are installed.

Kauai was wonderful!

We had so much fun in Kauai! We got to see whales, dophins, and turtles. We also did some magnificant hikes: one to the Napali coast and one to the middle of island via the jungle and a couple of tunnels that had blown through a mountain to aid in irrigation of sugarcane crops. It was a lot of fun! We laid on on the beach for one day and regreted our lack of respect for the sun. So Ben and I are both peeling now. Oh well....you can't have everything.

Madelyn did well staying with my parents while we were gone. She gave them a run for their money but they all seemed to enjoy themselves. I'm sure that my parents slept unusually well the couple of nights after Madelyn and I had left.

In transition... from "real-life" to paradise

Well, here it goes, the dreaded first post on my blog. Let me introduce myself, my name is Melissa and in this picture I am with my husband, Ben, and our daughter, Madelyn. So why am I starting a blog you ask? I thought it would a good way to express my thoughts and feelings and it may be a good way for Ben's and my families to keep up with how and what we are doing.

Well, right now I am sitting in my parents' living room after flying in yesterday with Madelyn. Tomorrow I will fly out and meet Ben in Kauai and leave Madelyn with my parents for a week. I'm a little nervous about leaving my one and a half year old for the first time overnight, let alone for a week. I am excited about Madelyn getting the chance to connect with her grandparents though!