Final Hawaii post :(

So I think that I have procrastinated putting this post up because that means it is really over! I can't believe that my time there went by so fast. I had the time of my life and am so glad that I took the opportunity and went out on a limb with a huge leap of faith. I just want to say how grateful I am for all of the amazing people that I met through work and church and other random paths. There is no way that I would have had the amazing experience I did without them.  

(P.S. the flash on my camera was being weird and made me look like a ghost in some of the pics, but I promise I came home with a sweet tan!)

I'm not going to lie I got a little choked up looking through all my pics to put together this post. Also a funny story- I shipped my car to California and drove it back to Utah. Well the CD I had left in the stereo was a hawaiian one. When I turned it on I just started crying. It was the first time I had heard any of it since I moved and it made me miss the island sooo bad.  It will always have a place in my heart and I hope to return someday sooner than later! There are so many more people that I didn't have pictures of but I love you all so much and miss you like crazy!! 

"How I long to be back home in the islands, where the trade winds blow a kiss hello I'm home..." -Ten Feet song 'Back Home'

Farewell Tour

As my weeks left in Hawaii dwindled I tried to check off as many things on my to do list as possible. I saw and did a lot of cool new things and made sure to hit up some of my favorites one last time.  This is going to be kinda long...

We hiked to Ka'ena Point which is the western most point of Oahu. The views are pretty and we even saw a seal in the shallow tide pools and albatross sea birds in the fields. We thought the seal was dying, but apparently that is how they always act. On our way back we stopped at Yokohama Bay and a few other west side beaches. They are gorgeous and quiet, which is a nice change from Honolulu's touristy beaches. It is however the dry, HOT side of the island for sure!

Monk Seal

Ka'ena Point

Ke'ana Point

Ke'ana Point

I also did the Lanikai Pill Box hike which goes along a ridge that overlooks Kailua & Lanikai and the Choke islands are right off shore. There are couple WWII bunkers (pill boxes) along the way if you need some shade to cool off. It isn't too strenuous and  the views are spectacular!

Lanikai pill box hike

Inside one of the bunkers

Corina, Jijo, and I

Next on the list was Valley of the Temples in Kaneohe. It is a scale replica of the Byodo-In Buddhist temple in Japan. It is amazingly intricate and was made entirely without the use of nails. Very cool! After that we headed up to North Shore and got some famous shrimp from the shrimp trucks- YUM-O! I can see why they are famous :) We layed out and played at Waiamea Bay which is my favorite North Shore beach and topped it all off with one last Acai bowl from Kava Roots cafe. Oh how I am craving one of those right now!

Byodo-In Temple

Giant Buddah

I also went to the Dole plantation for a dose of pineapple in the form of a pineapple chili dog and pineapple ice ceam. The latter of the 2 was much better haha, but hey you never know til you try it right? I also did the maze earlier in the year just to say that I had been in the world's largest maze...even though we did have to cheat a little to finish ;)

When all was said and done I felt like I was able to do almost everything that I wanted do while in Hawaii and am just so very grateful for the opportunity that I had to live in such an astoundingly beautiful place for 11 months. It really was the best time of my life thus far. 

Maui spring break

So I am way behind, but better late than never right? 

I went to Maui, Molokai, and Lanai with Christine over spring break the first week of April. We stayed at the Historic Lahaina Inn in downtown Lahaina and it was very quaint. Funny story though- one night the room next to us had the alarm clock going off at like midnight, so I knocked on the door but no answer. We went down to the lobby and saw that it was a late/early check-in so the key was on the counter, we took the key, broke into the room and turned off the alarm haha problem solved!  

In town we found the best shave ice place ever! Ululani shave ice makes all their own flavors and we made good friends with the owner David and his wife, they were so sweet.  

We also woke up at 3am one morning so that we could make the 2 1/2 hour drive to the Haleakala volcano for sunrise. It was freezing and a little damp, but seriously worth it! I have never had such an awe inspiring experience in my life. Afterward we had breakfast at a little place called Grandma's Coffee House and it was wonderful! Fresh, homemade, and hit the spot! 

We took a day tour of Lanai which was awesome! We saw a whole pod a dolphins that came and played right in front of the boat, a baby whale breached right next to us, we made great friends with captain Brian, and the sunset was  amazing. The island is tiny with only one town and lots of left over pineapple fields since Dole left about 10 years ago. 

We also took the ferry over to Molokai and drove from end to end. We went to the Kalaupapa outlook to see the peninsula where a leper colony was located in the 1800-1900's . There is also the largest phallic rock in the pacific. Tradition says if you touch it is will bring you fertility...can't go against tradition now can we. Molokai also has some of the world's highest sea cliffs which are so majestic. The island is small and we had the beaches all to our self. I loved it there and wish we could have spent more time there. 

Overall it was a great trip and we had tons of cool experiences, I even got searched at the airport...I am very suspicious :) 

Big Island

So while Kim was here visiting we went to the Big Island of Hawaii over Valentine's and President's Day. We had a bit of trauma prior to arriving since prior plans with some other friends going on the trip fell though 2 days before and we found out that every car on the island was sold out and rooms were slim...yikes! But thanks to Craigslist we were able to find someone willing to rent us their car and we got a nice hostel that could accommodate all 5 of us for a very reasonable price. Then the morning of our flight our ride flaked on us! But we still made it to the gate with 15 minutes to spare :)  Luckily for us it was smooth sailing from there! We picked up our car at the airport, it was an awesome Jimmy 4x4 that smelled like a mixture of ashtray, weed, and air freshener, but hey it was a car and we would have been stranded without it! We met up with my friends Kat, Aly, and Tom in Kona, grabbed some breakfast and let the adventure begin. Tom was pimping it with 4 dates for Valentine's Day, I'm sure that was rough haha. We started off by going to the southern most point in the United States, it was the windiest place I have ever been! After that we went to the black sand beach which was super neat. There was a turtle on the beach that everyone was gawking at, unfortunately I think that he seen better days :(  We continued on down the road toward the Volcanoes National Park, making a brief stop at the Punalu'u bakery for a yummy plate lunch. After going up 4000 ft. in elevation we reached the summit of the volcano. It was FREEZING! We were definitely not prepared in our shorts and t-shirts and the rain and wind didn't help either haha. But we sucked it up and got to see the steam vents, lava tube, and crater. Due to the bad weather we did not get to see the glow of lava dumping into the ocean at night...maybe next time. 

The next day we went to church and it turned out to be stake conference so that took a little longer than we had planned but it was good.  Next we went to Kaloko-Honokohau National Historic Park and did a short little hike to a really nice beach, then we drove inland a bit to get a better look and Mauna Kea and the SNOW! Before I moved here I had no idea that there was snow on Hawaii...it was so surreal to look one way and see the beach then look the other and see snow, crazy! After that we dropped off Tom at the airport, and us girls headed to the temple for some pictures and relaxation. Then we went in to  Kona and walked around downtown and got some huge shaved ices and enjoyed the sunset. Later that night we met a lot of cool people staying at the hostel and played some great hands of texas hold 'em (no money involved of course). 

Monday one of our new friends from the hostel named Patrick joined us on our trip over to Hilo. We saw several water falls including 442 ft. Akaka Falls and the appropriately named Rainbow falls. We ate at a great little Italian restaurant for lunch then headed back toward the airport. We attempted to see the lava dump into the ocean but it was too light so all we could see was steam, oh well it was still cool. Then it was back to the airport...we went all the way around the island in one day...i'm so glad Kat offered to drive part of the time or I would have gone crazy!  They aren't kidding when they say it is the big island! All in all I think we had a great time and crammed a lot into 3 days. I had thousand of pictures, literally, but here is what I could narrow it down to. I did a slide show for each day enjoy!

                                        Saturday 2-14-09

                                     Sunday 2-15-09

                                           Monday 2-16-09

There was so much to see and do I wish we had more time there! But I'm so glad we were able to go while Kim was here. It was so great having her visit. I can't believe she really moved to Tennessee, Utah will miss her forever!!  

Oh and I also wanted to let everyone know that I have decided to move back to Utah at the end of the school year, at least for the summer :) So if you wanted to come visit Hawaii you have until the 3rd week of June.  Aloha!

So many visitors, so little time!

So I have a ton of pictures and stuff from the Robinson's visit over the New Year's.

I had so much fun while they were in town, I can't even express it. I wish you all could see the dance I am doing right now...it explains it all ;) Maybe Renae can show you sometime...I wish I could get the videotape from that elevator camera haha. The list of activities for their trip was ever changing and somehow never seemed to get any smaller, there is just so much to do and so little time! We did however manage to squeeze a lot into 2 weeks, including but not limited to-Parasailing, Sealife Park, North Shore waves, Pearl Harbor, swap meet, picnics, sunset catamaran ride, Maunawili falls and Diamond Head hikes, BEACHES, shaved ice, fireworks, ocean, and LOTS of food :) Here are some pics of the fun!

Thanks so much for everything while you guys were here, I am so spoiled to have such an amazing family! Love you guys and cant wait to see you all again soon!

Hikin', eatin', ballin', jumpin'...the usuals!

I know it has been a long time since I updated this...seems to be a trend haha. Sorry I am such a slacker. Anywho there has been a lot going on. I started back to work on the 14th of January after almost a month off for Winter Break! I worked for 2 days then school got cancelled on Friday because they were predicting a huge storm. Thursday night I hiked Koko Head with Kat, Tom, and Jon. It is 1106 stairs to the top!! Let's just say I almost passed out when I got to the top but I did it! :) Well by the time we got to the top it was totally dark...good thing the baseball field at the bottom had its lights on so it wasn't too bad and we all made it down safe and sound!

The next morning since I had the day off I had some yummy coconut pancakes at the Seaside Grill, courtesy of Jon for finishing the hike, then hung out in my apartment waiting for the 'huge' storm to hit...but it never did! Monday was Martin Luther King day so we hit up the secret swimming hole! It is just off the Pali highway and has a rope swing, rock slide, and cliff jumping :)

The next weekend was Chinese New Year so Christine and I went to the block party in Chinatown. Welcome Year of the Ox everyone! They had tons of yummy food booths, Lion dancing, and a parade. We had a good time and got out just in time, it was getting so crowed you could barely walk down the street!

Lion Dance

Jin Dui- Chinese doughnut AKA Grease ball! I could only eat a few bites haha

Later that night Kat and I went to the Utah State vs. University of Hawaii basketball game, sporting our 'Show em' you A' shirt of course and the Aggies dominated!! "Show me the true blooded Aggie from Utah who doesn't love the spot where the sage brush grows!!!" (milking motion with the arms ;)) Sorry Hiram...we still cheered for you while you were in!

This past weekend I went to see the reggae group A'a Mele play at The Shack in Waikiki. Good music and good dancing=good times. Then on Saturday I went skydiving!!! We went up on the North Shore and it was B-E-A-U-tiful!! I can't believe I actually did it...it was so surreal!

I love you all and miss you everyday. I can't wait for Kim to come tomorrow!!!

OMGosh!!!

Ok I am going to compile a post with all the Christmas and New Year's festivities and the Robinson's visit soon, but I just had to post this!! We were watching TV and saw this infomercial for 'Bumpits'...Oh my gosh I think this had to have been invented in Idaho and popularized in Utah!! I guess this is giving girls across the land all the more time to get fro-yo and scrapbook! ;)