A Night I Will Never Forget...

Disclaimer: This is a sad post and I know I cried making it so you might cry too...just a heads up.

December 10th, 2007 I lost my brother and best friend. Today is the four year anniversary of his death. I wish I could say I will just remember all the good times I shared with him but that's not entirely true, it's hard to forget what happened that night.

Nick passed away that night from a firearm accident to the head. As I held him in my arms begging him not to leave me, he passed on. We lost a wonderful young man that day. At times I still blame myself for not being able to save him but I know that there was no coming back from that type of accident. But one thing is comforting...I know he did not die alone. He passed on with me telling him how much I love him and how much I need him. And I feel very lucky to have been the last one with him.

Nick was and still is my best friend. He was always there for me no matter what I needed. He helped me though so many hard times in my life that I know I could not have made it through without him.

Nick was such a kind and caring person. You could always find him with a smile on his face. 

Nick would do anything to help anyone. He was very selfless and giving. Family was also important to him. He would do anything for his family.

To say Nick loved to skate would be an understatement. He lived and breathed skateboarding. He was a the skate park every day and all weekend long. He was also very good! He made the hardest of tricks look easy. We held his memorial service at the skate park just down the road from our house. We found that to be the perfect place to have it since it was one of the places he loved most. And I know that in Heaven he is still skating...

I will never forget my little brother. I love him with all that I am and I always will. I still to this day remember everything exactly as it happened that night and I still have nightmares about it. But even in my dreams he is there to comfort me. I look forward to the day when I can see his smiling face again and hold him in my arms and never let go. Here are a few more pictures of him that I would like to share...

I love you Nicholas Aaron Heitkamp...you are never forgotten. 

Read Along With Me: JR Ward...Favorite #1

JR Ward is one of my favorite authors. I have been reading her stuff since my freshman year of high school and I haven't put her down since! She also writes under the name of Jessica Bird. Most of her writing is romance/ paranormal romance. Now this is noting like Twilight. JR Ward's writing is very adult (probably not mom approved).

I have not read much of her stuff that she has written as Jessica Bird but I do plan to read more. Most of the things I read of hers are written as JR Ward. She has two series as JR Ward, The Black Dagger Brotherhood and The Fallen Angels. My favorite series is The Black Dagger Brotherhood. They are about 

this brotherhood of vampires. JR Ward has created a dark and rich world that just sucks you in

as a reader and you can't get out even if you wanted to. She creates very cocky and tough leading male characters and strong, independent women characters that you grow to love. JR Ward has a wonderfully sarcastic writing style and a dirty sense of humor that makes me laugh. It reminds me of things I would say or think and that just keeps me reading. She is blunt and to the point to the point in her writing so the story never drags on and on. Her books are usually action packed and keeps you turning pages.

 Dark Lover its the first book in her The Black Dagger Brotherhood series, followed by eight other books and a ninth coming out this next year.

I am currently reading Envy (book three) form The Fallen Angels series and I love it as I do all her books. The Fallen Angels series is about what it sounds like. It is about a man who is equal parts good and evil and he has seven souls to save while being influenced by both the devil and angels.

Covet is the first book of The Fallen Angel series and there are currently two more books in the series. 

I love JR Ward's writing and I know you will too. If you would like so see more just visit her website http://www.jrward.com/ or on Facebook!

A Day of Thanks

Thanksgiving is my second favorite holiday. It  is a day to thank God for all that he has blessed us with. And it is also a day to spend with family and friends. This year our good friends the Bennett's had us over for dinner. We have known Jesse and Danita sense we lived back in Monterey, CA. We are so blessed to have them in our lives. 

While Danita finished up in the kitchen (I tried to help but she had it all under control) we relaxed in the family room watching some television.

While Danita was in the kitchen and Jesse was caring the turkey, Evy was ready and waiting for dinner!

To say dinner was amazing would be and understatement! Danita is quite the cook. The bird was so juicy and tender! And all the fixings were just as yummy! I made the candied yams and the cranberry sauce but Danita made everything else!

Once our plates were a little too full, we sat down and enjoyed a marvelous dinner.

There are so many things that I am thankful for, my husband, our life in Hawaii, my family, my friends, and everything else the Lord has granted me. And I just want to say thank you to all my family and friends for always being there for me and supporting me. But I would like to thank my amazing husband for all that he has given me and all that he does for me. I would not be there person I am today if it wasn't for him. I love you Alex. And thank you for being my best friend, partner in crime, and husband.

Bunco night!

For the past few months I have been attending a monthly game of Bunco! Bunco is a game that I learned of from my Grandma Thomas many years ago and about a year or so ago she sent me my very own Bunco game. Once I moved to Hawaii I found a group of military spouses that wanted to played Bunco and they were nice enough to let me join in the fun!

The game is very simple. It's a dice game where you have three dice and you are rolling for one specific number. There are six rounds and one round you will roll for ones, the next for twos and so on till six. For ever dice you roll and get the number you want you get a point. You are tying to get to 21 first. But if you roll all three dice and they all come up the number you want that's called a "Bunco" and you win that round!

So every month we all get together and play some Bunco! There is usually a five dollar buy in (the host pays for the prizes and that's what our five dollars go to) but this month we all decided on bringing a gift worth about five dollars so we all would win something. Bunco night always turns out to be a ton of fun! These ladies never disappoint. They are all very welcoming and warmhearted women and I am so very glad I found all of them!

Bunco night is a night for all of us to get out of the house and have some fun! Especially when the husbands are away its nice to get some time to relax, have fun and be goofy! All pictures are courtesy of Linda Backer, thank you for letting me use your photos!

Above: Kyle was our amazing host this month!

We all got a little silly as the night wore on :)

Not my best moment on film....

After all four games were played we counted up our scores and gave out prizes!

Jen won the prized pumpkin!

It was a fun night with fun some amazing friends. They have helped make my time here in Hawaii all the more special. So thank you to all my Bunco ladies! Can't wait till next month!

Marine Corps Birthday Ball!

"From the Halls of Montezuma

To the shores of Tripoli,

We will fight out country's battles

In the air, on land and sea.

First to fight for right and freedom

And to keep our honor clean.

We are proud to claim the title

Of United States Marine.

Our flag's unfurl'd to ev'ry breeze

From dawn to setting sun

We have fought in ev'ry clime and place

Where we could take a gun.

In the snow of far off northern lands,

And in sunny tropic scenes,

You will find us always on the job - 

The United States Marines.

Here's health to you and to our corps,

Which we are proud to serve;

In many a strife we've fought for life,

And never lost our nerve.

If the Army and the Navy

Ever look on Heaven's scenes,

They will find the streets are guarded

By United States Marines."

~Marines' Hymn

This year we are celebrating the Marine Corps 236th birthday! And every year there is a ball held in celebration of the birthday. This year 3rd Radio Battalion had their ball at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki. The ball room was beautiful! After meeting up with some friends, we went and found our table.

This year was going to be a little different for Alex and me. Alex was a cake escort this year. His job was to escort the cake out during the ceremony. 

Alex is the third Marine in with his face half covered by another Marine.

Alex did a wonderful job! And my heart just swelled with pride as I watched him march out with the cake. He looked amazing standing under the spotlight. I couldn't have been happier.

After the ceremony was done, Alex joined me at our table and we had dinner. The food was amazing! Alex had the steak and I had the chicken and shrimp. For dessert we had an ice cream cake with a pineapple glaze. It was so yummy!

We had an amazing night together just talking and hanging out with some good friends.

I am very proud to be a Marine wife. And I am even more proud to be Alex's wife. I love my marine with all my heart and soul. Happy birthday to my wonderful Marine!

Now you see me....now you don't!

I don't know why it has taken me this long to post about our newest additions to the family. 

Alex loves all things creepy and crawly...and I...don't. But I love my hubby so I let him get two little guys...Picasso and Pascal.

These tow little love birds are Jackson's Chameleons. Picasso (the male) has three horns on his face. Where as Pascal (the female) does not.

Now, a lot of people assume that chameleons can change to all different colors and they do it to blend in...not always true. There are some chameleons that are brightly colored, like the panther chameleon...

...but Jackson's Chameleons usually are a beautiful green. It's when they change colors that you have a problem. Jackson tend to turn dark green all the way to black when they get stressed or scared. A happy Jackson is light green almost blue in color.

Picasso is the perfect shade of green, his tail is almost a teal color. Picasso tends to stay this happy green where as Pascal tends to have some green stripping. The reason Pascal has stripes is because she is a little stressed. Now i'ts not a bad stress. When two chameleons are in one cage together its best to have one male and one female, otherwise they will fight for dominance. The reason she is stressed is because Picasso is dominant and she is not. 

But never fear...she is not stressed to the point where she is unhealthy. She is also not stripped all the time. She can be as green and beautiful as Picasso.

To be honest, I am not very fond of these little guys (I'm not big on reptiles, as you can tell by my half smile). But they don't make a mess, they keep to themselves and Alex loves them...so I guess they can stay!