Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas...and on to New Year's! WHEW!

Whoa...I'm thinking it's time to update the blog seeing that my last post is titled "Happy Halloween"! Where on earth did November and December go?? I tell myself every year that I am not going to let the holidays slip by so quickly...but they seem to anyway, despite my best efforts. We do have lots of great memories and pictures from the last two months, with all kinds of celebrations! Here is a recap of what the Bakers have been up to lately, beginning with the most recent events...

We celebrated Christmas this year with my family, who traveled to be with us here in Hawaii! My Mom and Dad; sisters, Andie and Cassandra; and future brother-in-law, Josh spent the last eight days doing a lot of sight-seeing, soaking up rays on the beach, and, of course, celebrating Christmas! We had such a great time!!

Family picture on the Southern coastline of Oahu

Another family photo at the Polynesian Cultural Center Luau

My parents also celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary while in Hawaii...the luau staff asked that all couples celebrating an anniversary come up to dance!

Blaine opens one of his gifts on Christmas morning...a really cool propane tank gauge! We'll never run out of propane while grilling again! :) Thanks, Mom and Dad!

Blaine got me a new backpack for my camera! Thanks, sweetie!

Dad, Mom, and Cassandra open up some giftcards! It's much easier to pack giftcards than gifts. ;)

Andie and Josh show off their giftcards to some places they are registered for their wedding!

Andie collects some sand and seashells for friends back in Texas.


Our Christmas tree...Oahu did not run out of trees this year, but we got this one as soon as we could, just in case!

Our Christmas cards, tied to garland! Thanks, Mom, for this great idea!

I made our wreath out of the trimmings from our Christmas tree!

We had a gingerbread house-making party at my friend, Elizabeth's house. I turned mine into a "mandle factory". Ever heard of a mandle?? Well, maybe not, since Blaine coined the phrase one night...he was telling us about bubble baths and that it's okay for a man to light candles for his bubble bath...a man candle...or a MANDLE, if you will! We all just about fell to the floor with laughter... :)

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we managed to squeeze in a beer tasting party, which was also a celebration of Blaine's 33rd birthday! Behold...the Baker Beer Bash of 2010! Note: this WILL be an annual event...and you all can help hold us to that now that I have broadcasted this on the blog!

The prizes awarded to those who won the beer tasting...congrats to Trent and Brian!!

Blaine mans the grill and makes yummy beer brats!

Keeping with the theme of the party, all of the food was made with beer...even the cupcakes! Have you ever had a chocolate-spiced Guinness cupcake?? YUM!

Let the tasting begin!

Can't have a beer tasting without a game of cornhole!

Jen and Meghan enjoying the firepit.

We spent Thanksgiving here at home, with friends who also stayed "on island" for the holiday. Our friends, Nate, Elizabeth, Brian, and Christina joined us at our house for a Thanksgiving feast, each family contributing different dishes. We dubbed the celebration "Super Thanksgiving Extravaganza Bonanza Blowout 2010"...the name was given after the the mai tais mentioned in the next section. :) Before eating dinner, we all shared thoughts on what we were thankful for...it was very nice!

Elizabeth and I brined the turkey...but our bag sprung a leak! How ridiculous does this look?!?

Blaine carves the yummy turkey!

Our Thanksgiving feast!

The weekend prior to Thanksgiving, we joined some friends on a Mai Tai Sunset Catamaran cruise in Honolulu...so much FUN!!

Getting ready to board the cataraman on Waikiki Beach!

Everyone enjoyed the cruise...and the mai tais!

An artistic take on a sunset picture...did I mention there were unlimited mai tais?? ;)

I'll wrap up this blog entry with Blaine's birthday celebration...we had cake and icecream right before he went on a short TDY. I made him his favorite...red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting!

Blaine blows out his candles while the neighbor kids eagerly await some cake!

Happy Birthday, Blaine...I love you so much!!

With 2011 right around the corner, I would like to take a little moment to express how thankful I am for the wonderful life I live with my amazing husband, the awesome friends who have made Hawaii more like home for us, the cherished friends we left behind on the mainland but think of often and miss more than you'll ever know, and our loving families who we are so grateful for!! We are truly blessed and words can't express how much we love each and every one of you. We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and wish everyone a blessed new year! Happy 2011!

Happy Halloween!

We have had an entire month of Halloween happenings! While we usually just celebrate the fall season in general, this year has been different, with all sorts of Halloween celebrations! And, oh, what fun we've had!!

Kicking off the eerie events of the month, another spouse and I hosted the October Spouses' Coffee at my home. We really ran with the Halloween theme...I spun cobwebs throughout my house, played spooky Halloween music, named our foods with funny Halloween names, and held a "favorite mask" contest where everyone showed up in a mask! It was such a great night, with 17 ladies partaking in our Halloween fun!

The 535 AS spouses in masks!

Our frightful food display!

Scary Halloween food names

Candy corn guessing game

Mask Contest

After the coffee, I spent the rest of October focusing on work and getting ready for Halloween. As some of you may know, I substitute teach at Assets High School, a private school that caters to students with learning exceptionalities, such as dyslexia and ADD. I LOVE this school! The kids are so great!! Of course, the Friday before Halloween was a day for costumes, tricks, and treats. I wasn't sure what I would dress up as, if anything at all (I was battling a cold so I wasn't feeling up to putting together a costume)...and then it came to me as I was getting ready that morning at 6:30 a.m. :) If you are a fan, a true fan, of The Office, then you'll know right away where the idea came from. Can you guess what I am??? The kids loved it!

FACEBOOK!

Saturday night before Halloween was the night we were all looking most forward to...our neighbors held a murder mystery dinner party at their home, and we all had roles to play while guessing who the murderer was! What a FUN night!! I played "Dr. Tillie Screams, the dentist", and Blaine played "Stretch, the butler"! I cannot explain in words or pictures how funny Blaine was and how well he played this part!! He intended to play the role with an English accent, but it somehow turned into an Australian one. Too funny.

Stretch, the butler, and Dr. Tillie Screams, the dentist! Please take note of the monocle Blaine HAD to have...it only took me ALL day to find one. ;) But it was SO worth it!

Our friends, Elizabeth and Nate...AKA Ivanna Bitiznek, a Romanian princess, and Harry Shearer, a "conflicted" hairdresser. :)

Our friends and neighbors, Jewlee and Mike...AKA Ann Angrimob, the local bar maid, and Vlad Tire, a passing motorist with a flat tire. Jewlee and Mike were also the hosts!

"Stretch" reads some of his lines to the party-goers

I just had to include this picture of some of the characters at the party!

The girls in costume!

"Tillie" and "Ivanna" enjoying the party!

"Vlad Tire", the MURDERER!

On Halloween night, we sat with our neighbors in the front yard of our building to hand out candy to the trick-or-treaters. We set our chairs up around our new firepit (purchased for this night in particular), brought out some drinks (adult treats), and waited with our bowls and baskets of candy! In past years, I haven't had much experience with a lot of trick-or-treaters, but we've never lived on a military base either! There were trick-or-treaters EVERYWHERE! We really enjoyed the night, saw some great costumes, and made smores on the firepit afterwards. A very fun Halloween, indeed!!

Blaine hands out candy to just one of the many waves of trick-or-treaters!

Enjoying our first Halloween in Hawaii!

Blaine helps our neighbor, Brodie, extinguish a flaming marshmallow while making smores!

What a great month it has been with so many fun Halloween celebrations! I hope all of you had a very Happy Halloween!! :)

Where's the Cold??

My favorite season is fall. I love pumpkins, the color orange, fall scents, pumpkin pie, pumpkin spice lattes, apple cider...I could go on and on. By the end of the day on September 1st (my idea of the start of fall), I had all of my fall decor out and was ready to start with my fall baking. There was only one thing missing...cool weather. I love Hawaii, however there is no real "transition" to signal the start of my favorite season.

Where was I going to find cool weather?? Of course! ALASKA. Okay, so I didn't go to Alaska just to find fall weather. Blaine was working there, so I decided to join him for a couple of weeks! Blaine worked most of the time I was there, but we had a great time taking in the amazing sights and hanging out with our friends, Howdy and Michelle!

Determined to find a moose in Alaska...and I found one on the Air Force base! Actually, I had to slam on my breaks when I looked up to see him crossing the road in front of me. And then I desperately fumbled for my phone to capture this picture. :)

Here are some of the awesome things we saw and did...

My first night in Alaska, Blaine and I drove down to Soldatna, where our friend, Angus, lives. After the boys took a flight over the mountains in Angus' plane, we cozied up to a bonfire where we dined on Alaskan cuisine straight from the outdoors...silver salmon and ptarmagan! It was a gorgeous night with a clear sky, revealing more stars than I have ever noticed before. This definitely felt like a true "Alaskan experience". Thanks, Angus, for an awesome time!

Blaine and Angus getting ready to taxi toward the runway!

Beautiful lakefront view from Angus' home!

Amazing mudflats that are exposed when the tide rushes out near the Turnagain Arm.

We met up with Howdy and Michelle for dinner at The Moose's Tooth the following night...what a surreal, but great feeling to see friends from Charleston, so FAR AWAY from Charleston! Michelle and I did some shopping, hiking, and more eating out through the week...there are some really cute places in Anchorage! My second weekend in Alaska, Howdy, Michelle, Blaine, and I hiked to Byron Glacier in Girdwood. Amazing! I was intent on seeing a glacier, and we found one, up close and personal. It was beautiful!

Hiking to Byron Glacier

Sun rays shining through an opening in Byron Glacier

I didn't even think about how dangerous it is to sit underneath a melting glacier!

Blaine, Jen, Michelle, and Howdy at the end of a gorgeous hike!

This is what the same view from the Turnagain Arm looks like when the tide is up!

Another week of shopping (I had to mail two boxes of stuff home), eating out (I wanted to try every restaurant that was recommended to me...and I think I succeeded), and having pumpkin spice lattes from every coffee shop in town (every day of my visit!)...and we come to my final weekend in Alaska. I spent Saturday with Howdy and Michelle while Blaine worked. We had breakfast together and spent ALL day hanging out in the cutest coffee shop near their home, engaged in great conversation. I really enjoyed my last day with our sweet friends! Thanks, Howdy and Michelle, for keeping me company and being great tour guides! I truly am thankful for our time spent together. :)

Several people recommended that we visit Alyeska Resort in Girdwood and eat at their infamous restaurant, Seven Glaciers, that lies on the top of the mountain, accessible only by a very steep hike or the tram. We decided to make a weekend of it, staying at the resort Saturday night and exploring the area the next day, to include the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. We had SUCH a great time! The resort was unbelievable, the dinner was amazing, and the scenery was breathtaking. It was so nice to have that time with Blaine...we considered this an early celebration of our four-year wedding anniversary. Thanks, sweetie, for an unforgettable date night! I will certainly hold dear our Alaskan memories forever.

Alyeska Resort...if you look REALLY closely, you can see Seven Glaciers Restaurant at the very top of the mountain in the background.

After enjoying each other's company over a romantic dinner, overlooking the beautiful mountains and the resort...we had to check out the engine room! Yes, Blaine was SO intrigued by the tram that the operator offered to give us a tour of how it works. Isn't this how all of your date nights end?? ;)

This is a tree from Girdwood's "ghost forest"...during an earthquake, the ground sank, allowing saltwater to come in, which killed a lot of trees and left these reminders behind. Don't they look neat?

We really liked the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. We met this guy, among the rest of the elk, who was really rambunctious! He was charging at people and seemed to REALLY like the ladies in his pasture. ;) Such a stinker!

Two bears playing in the water

This caribou was just as mischievous as the elk...he kept charging at us, too.

This bald eagle was found with a bullet hole through his left wing, which had to be amputated. He seems to be enjoying life at the conservation center, though!

I took this picture of a huge glacier from the plane window on the way back home...so pretty!

We really enjoyed our Alaskan experience, and had a great time with old friends! What an amazingly beautiful place!! And I got my cold fix. ;)