4th of July.

I hope this finds that everyone had a splendid fourth!

Over in the middle of ocean, we attended our annual Freedom Fest, which equals 1 hour lines for funnel cakes, $50,000 worth of fireworks, and enjoying delicious food and drinks while picnicking with our friends.

Big Shout out to my 2 darling friends (L & A), whom without them I would never have any picture memories to share. :)

This is our 2nd and final year to attend the Fest. You can check out the firework highlights from last year here. Last summer, we weren't very anxious to get things done, because there was always the thought, "Oh, we have next summer". Now the 4th is over, and we are taking in our summer days here, because we know they will not last long.

This year's fireworks didn't fail to impress. If you have a moment or about 20 minutes worth of moments, please enjoy the whole video, or if you are more like me, just skip around a bit to capture the summary of the show. 

Well actually that video is pending to post...It will not load properly to blogger, and this post has been sitting to be posted all day. So stay tuned for the fireworks.

What to do with a day off?

Thankfully, days off are not far to come by around here. It seems the base shuts down at random points of the week due to countless Portuguese holidays, family days, goal days... you name it. Yesterday was off in remembrance of President's day.

All week last week I kept thinking how odd that I had nothing scheduled, no commitments on Monday. Then it would click, we got a 3 day weekend. Mas and I love having B home, it sometimes seems that we, along with the rest of the community, don't know what to do with ourselves when we get "extra" free time. Yesterday my time was consumed by running, cleaning, making hummus, and online window shopping, B spent almost the entire day studying for his section 2 CDC test be taken today. Exhilarating stuff I know.

As I took in my surroundings of the day I noticed many cars being washed, tire pressures being checked, many new faces at the gym, facebook posts of morning wake-ups at noon followed by a nap shortly after. There are only so many hydrangeas, cows and other sides of the ocean you can see here, so people must think up things to pass the day along besides twiddling their thumbs. :)

Not complaining here, bring on more days off, just observing that people, myself included, seem at a loss when given those extra 24 hours.

V-Day/B-Day Recap.

What a delightful 2 days we just had. They were a nice change from the ordinary Monday and Tuesday routine. Seems like Wednesday just snuck right up on us.

On Monday, since neither of us our V-Day fanatics, we both had our normal stuff going on during the day, but in the evening B surprised me with our dinner menu. He took over the meal plan for Monday and Tuesday, and oh does it make a wonderful difference. We had what I believe was lamb chops. B had ventured out to the local grocery store during the weekend and after about 10 minutes of trying to find someone who spoke English, they were able to direct him to what he was looking for. Some deliciously breaded chops and many many smashed potatoes later our tummies were fully satisfied.

For my birthday, I was surprised with chocolate croissants, in the morning, from the local bakery B had been hiding somewhere. Add some coffee to that mix and you got one happy girl. During the day, B had put together a small scavenger hunt for me to follow to find my gift, such a creative husband. As well, all the birthday calls, facebook messages, and special gifts from all my friends and family kept the smile going on my face. For the evening, B had set up dinner reservations, but being the indecisive person I am, I couldn't make up mind if I really wanted to get all dazzled up and go eat Portuguese cuisine. We ended up opting for plan B, which was pizza and champagne in the back of our car overlooking the ocean - we keep it classy here. :)

Thank you husband for being so sweet! I love you.

1/2 marathon training

The 11 week countdown begins today to my first ever half marathon (13.1 miles). Since being on the island, I have run several 5ks that the base puts on, and during Thanksgiving I ran the Turkey Trot 10k. I ran the whole way but it definitely kicked my bootie.

On May 1st the island actually hosts a half marathon race, starting in one of the small villages and goes through 11 other villages along the coastline. It should be a beautiful run.

One of the spouses put together a training group starting today. What that entails who knows? It will probably turn out to be half training on my own, half training with the group due to conflicting schedules. Either way we are getting t-shirts and May 1st should be an exciting, eventful day that I am looking forward to.

Oh yes, Happy Valentines Day!!

The New Year.

The ringing in of the New Year has once again come and gone. We kept with all of our "new traditions" we intend to implement that I spoke of here.

I wanted to share with y'all our 2011 Things We Will Strive to Accomplish List for the 2 people that might care.

Brandon

1. Make an “excellent” on PT test.

• An excellent is received by obtaining an overall score of 90 or above. Besides the numerical standpoint, it also warrants a day-off as well as no PT testing for a year. A mandatory test is given every 6 months, the next one is scheduled in May then November would be the 2nd one for this year, so he will have 2 tries this year to get it done.

2. Complete at least 30 credit hours for school.

• With CDCs still looming, "normal" school will not start back up again until hopefully this summer. CDCs completed will already add 6 credit hours for his degree plan. He will then have, more semesters than I can count this early in the morning, to complete the 24 more credit hours before 2012. Definitely doable.

3. Complete OTS package!!

• This is the big one. To make the switch from enlisted to officer, an active member can apply for OTS (Officer Training School) one year out. Completing bullet point 2 will get B to this point, the rest will be in God's hands.

Jacki

1. Learn a new language.

• Now, the obvious language choice would be Portuguese, you would think. However, I feel in the long run this will not be as beneficial as becoming actually fluent in Spanish. We will see which route I decide to follow, maybe it'll end up being both.

2. Visit at least 6 different countries.

• It is so doable, promise. We are headed to Germany in a week, thats 1. I am not counting our trip to the states after because that is too easy. So then are long awaited vacation/cruise will be happening this spring, and after that I may only need 1 or 2 more countries. After saving up leave for a little over a year, it is time to use it! I guess I can say I take after my ma in not doing well in staying stationary for an extended period of time.

3. Read 18 books this year.

• For some this may sound super easy, and I agree. I am pretty consistent in starting a book and then not finishing it for weeks later. I am a fast reader and all, this tasks is really more about be more disciplined in actually sitting down and reading. So rather than putting on another episode of Lost (our new favorite) I will try to take the last hour of every night to knock this one out.

And there you have it. Now, that you have read them you now have the official responsibility of making sure we accomplish them. Happy New Year!!

Goodbye 2010.

Another new year is coming. Are you ready?

We intend to give a proper good-bye to 2010 this evening, a nap may have to be squeezed in at some point today in order to make it to midnight.


In the Morris household, we are beginning some new traditions that will hopefully continue longer than this year. :) Last year, we were soaking up the sunny rays in Miami, literally. It was December, and we were sun-bathing with the other thousands on the beaches, you can't really beat that.

See there we are, sunny skies!

New Years Eve 2010 was spent looking at fireworks from the balcony, toasting with champagne, and indulging in a very very tasty Lasagna. So this year, although we cannot recreate the 85 degree weather, we can recreate the incredibly delicious lasagna. You can say we are trading in the black-eyed peas for some cheese and pasta!

Yummmmmmmmmm

As well, we intend to sit down tomorrow and write out at least 3 things we individually want to accomplish in the New Year. Now these are not resolutions, there will be no "I will eat less chocolate starting Jan. 1" or things like that but more along the lines of "I will actually learn Portuguese". Will see what we come up with.

Feliz Ano Novo!!

363 Days in Counting.

We have successfully stuffed our bellies all weekend along, opened countless presents until next year (Thank you family, you spoil us.), heard enough Christmas music to nauseate our ears, and most importantly celebrated and reflected on the birth of our Savior so many years ago. Yet now, the fridge is full of leftovers, presents have been all put away, the Christmas tunes have been turned off, sadly, one more week of Christmas decorations, and they will have to come down, and we had to say good-bye to Mr. Grizzles.

Our merry and bright weekend, started with a gorgeous sunny day of 70 degrees, clear skies and NO rain or wind!! We had B's office Christmas party to attend as well as the Christmas Eve candlelight service at our church. A full day of "Merry Christmases" just to gear us up for the next day. We couldn't go to bed without taking a sneak-peak into Santa's presents and watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the original). Santa came all the way to the Azores to give us this... Thank you!!!!!

                                        

Christmas morning and a slew of presents later it was time for the Christmas festivities to begin. B and hosted a Christmas brunch for a handful of our friends. Tasty food, delightful conversation, and a full house makes you forget you are 3000 miles away from "home".

The rest of the day we skyped with our families, made Christmas dinner and you cannot have Christmas without an Elf viewing.

The 26th came upon us, and Christmas was still going. :) We heard our last Christmas sermon at church and then some friends invited us over for one more Christmas meal and celebration! 

Now, it's Monday *sigh*. We go back on vacation in a mere 11 days, so there is really no room to complain.

We hope you all had a wonderfully blessed Merry Christmas with friends and family. 

Hello Dec. 1.

The Christmas season is upon us! It is now deemed correct to decorate ones tree, drink hot chocolate wine and cookies every night and receive Christmas cards. Oh wait, y'all received those weeks ago... hmmm.. at least we waited till after Thanksgiving to set up our tree. It took everything in me to withhold from setting it up early.

We wanted to share our Christmas spirit with y'all, so here you go...

We are in the land of "the ugliest tree-toppers for sale ever", therefore we might be protesting without one this season.

You put us to shame Hillary & Matt. :)

Its the best we could come up with when you have no trees to work, concrete walls and winds that just might knock everything over. Happy Hump Day!

A Time to Give Thanks.

Thanksgiving was a success. As much as I stressed over there not being enough food, I feel people left without eating anything (of course they really did). There were so many leftovers! Brandon and I are still working our way through them. His office is getting a plate full of pie today! Hope they came to work hungry.

The big successes of the evening:

• Everyone seemed to love my friends cranberry sauce she brought over.
• My green bean casserole
• & I really enjoyed the pumpkin pie 

My turkey man.

Turkey #1

Turkey #2

Look at all the food!!

So family (who we missed dearly) book your plane tickets now, so you don't miss any of the food or excitement for next year. :)

Gobble. Gobble.

Whew! Just finished a 10k this morning. My first one ever. One of the squadrons put together a "Turkey Trot" for this morning to put everyone in the turkey spirit. We had the choice to run a 5k (3.1 miles) or a 10k (6.2 miles). There are rarely opportunities here to run "marathons/races" so I choose the 10k to prove to myself I could do it, and I did, in 49 minutes and 10 seconds. That is a long time to be running, my body kind of aches right now. B is on call this week so he couldn't run with me, he had to be in to work very early today.

Now on to start the cooking after work today!! Wondering what is on our Thanksgiving menu?

for appetizers...

spinach dip

meatballs

my little vegetable turkey

the main course...

2 turkeys

mashed potatoes

green bean casserole (with no cream of whatever being used!)

broccoli slaw

waldorf salad

creamed corn

mac n' cheese

carrot rice

sweet potato

stuffing

cranberry sauce

buttered rolls & Portuguese bread

for dessert...

homemade pumpkin pie

homemade chocolate pecan pie

my fabulous chocolate peanut butter cookies

If anything turns out super duper, out of this world delicious, I will be sure to share the recipe!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Arts and Crafts.

I have been dying for a fall wreath. Being that there aren't as many accessible resources here, I told myself it just wasn't going to happen for us this year. :)

However, since we are hosting Thanksgiving at our house I was determined to give the house a little fall inspiration. So with the few materials I was able to find, and dedicating about one hour of time (when I was at work) I came up with this.

Well, actually I did not, this lady did but I think I produced a pretty good replica. So, I have my wreath! That gets to hang for a week and a half until it is replaced with Christmas decorations, but for next year we will be prepared.

From Halloween to Christmas.

Christmas Cards are out! I dropped them at the post office yesterday, so everyone should be getting them anytime between today and February. However, normally letters take anywhere from 4-6 weeks to reach there destination. Spread the word, so that way if they actually do reach the states before Thanksgiving, they know that was not my intentions and that I am not some crazed-Christmas person. :)

Let us know when you receive them!!

Sidenote: We bought our Christmas tree last weekend too. :) The adjustment of island life.

Happy Halloween.

a day late....

from the Jetsons!

Halloween Rats.

This weekend I wen to a Halloween party on Friday night. We were supposed to bring a spooky dish. After scouring google for a bit, I found this. I decided to share in case anyone else was needed to make a Halloween treat.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds ground beef
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1 (1.25 ounce) packet meatloaf seasoning mix
• 1 cup cubed Cheddar cheese
• 3 (10 ounce) cans tomato sauce
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 ounce uncooked spaghetti, broken into fourths
• 1/2 carrot, cut into 1/8-inch thick slices
• 1 tablespoon frozen green peas

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, onion, egg, bread crumbs, and meatloaf seasoning. Use your hands to mix until well blended. Measure out 1/3 cupfuls of the meat mixture and mold around a cube of cheese like a meatball. Shape into a point at one end and lengthen the body a bit by rolling between your hands. Place your ''rat'' into a shallow baking dish, and continue with the remaining meat. Insert pieces of uncooked spaghetti into the rounded end of the rats to make tails.
3. In a medium bowl, stir together the tomato sauce, sugar and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over the rats in the dish and cover the dish with a lid or aluminum foil.
4. Bake for 45 minutes in the preheated oven. Uncover the dish and continue to bake for another 20 to 30 minutes, basting occasionally with the sauce to glaze the rats.
5. While the rats finish baking, heat the peas and carrots in a small bowl in the microwave for about 15 seconds.
6. Carefully transfer the rats to a serving platter so that their delicate tails don't fall off. Press peas into the pointy end to make eyes, and insert carrot slices to make ears. Spoon some of the tomato sauce around them and serve.

It smelled great! I did only half the recipe. I actually didn't try it so I can't comment on how it tasted.

We are all ready for the weekend. Here, many people just set up tables and chairs outside so the kids don't have to come to the door. However, with our mere 10 bags of candy, we will maybe be outside for 20 minutes. No joke.

Fireworks.

So Happy 4th of July, 4 days late. We had a busy weekend, if we didn't have an extra day added in, I feel nothing would have got accomplished. Our weekend consisted of, playing at the beach, Mason walking, seeing Robin Hood*, church, grilling turkey hot dogs & french fries, working booths at the Freedom Fest, finishing B's homework, fireworks & funnel cake, car washing, an afternoon run, 6 loads of laundry, lawn mowing, a Celebrating Homes party, and lastly another VBS meeting.

Woo! Fun-filled to say the least. Lets back it up a bit to highlight some parts. There is an annual Freedom Fest on base which turned out to be better than we excepted. Like I said we helped out the 1st 2 hours in some food booths and then later that evening returned to watch the firework show. Apparently, Lajes Field has the best show in USAFE (United States Air Forces of Europe). It lived up to its name. It was a great show. Here are some highlights, if you have the time to watch. :)

*This was the 1st time since about the 3rd week we arrived, that a good movie has come out. Robin Hood and Iron Man 2 both were showing. We had to at least see one. Oh, and 2 weekends from now, Sex and the City 2 comes out!!! I already have plans lined up to see it, Brandon will be skipping out on this one.

Birthday Fun!!

This past weekend was filled with tons of birthday/valentines day activities. We started on Saturday afternoon with our 1st ever Mardi Gras parade. Now, I highly doubt this was anyway close to the ones that they have in New Orleans, but we still ended up with tons of beads by the end. It was a lot of fun. It was in downtown Gulfport, and it was our first community event to go to in these past two months. We felt like locals.

Our before picture, with no beads.

Our 1/2 way through picture.

We never came out with our finale picture, for some reason, but we definitely got tons and tons of beads. It was a beautiful afternoon.

That evening, Brandon took me to a wonderful dinner at a restaurant called Jia. It was Asian cuisine. It is actually a restaurant inside of one of the casinos. If you have ever been to Biloxi/Gulfport, you know there is not a lot going on. The restaurants inside the casinos are probably as nice as they get here. Brandon had Shrimp and Chicken Pad Thai and I had some

delicious sushi. We never go out to eat, so when ever we do it is always a treat!

On Sunday, our big Valentine's day activity, was to make homemade ravioli. It really turned out to be something fun for us to do together. It took 3 long hours. By hour 1, we were soo hungry!! We made everything from the dough, to the filling, to the tomato sauce, and even for dessert we made chocolate raviolis. Everything turned out delicious. We were not able to master the art of dough making, so they were a little thick, but tasty.

Monday, my actual birthday, we took it easy. Coming from an eventful weekend, we took the day off and relaxed. We did go see Valentine's Day which was actually quite funny. It was a great weekend we had together!

In military news, Brandon takes his test tomorrow. If all goes well, he will out process all day on Monday, and I will pack up our condo. Then, Tuesday morning we will hit the road to College Station for the next 11 days. March 6th is our projected date that we may be leaving. Everything is still up in the air, and we are STILL waiting on orders, but this is the tentative plan we are following right now.