Aloha Maui, Aloha Oahu

So our big plan in the morning was go back to Black Rock with a fully charged battery and snorkel.  Jeremy stayed on the beach to entertain Joe while the rest of us went snorkeling…including Indy!  Indy did awesome just holding on to someone’s hand and swimming.  We saw another turtle which was awesome.  I was going back to the beach sooner than Jason and Katie, so I took Indy back.  About 20 yards from the beach, Indy was a little tired so she rode on my back.  It was pretty fun.  Jeremy said that he and Joe splashed in the water and he had fun.

That evening, Jeremy and I went on a date up to Haleakala to watch the sunset.  We stopped at Spericos Pizza on our way up; they were quite delicious.  This is the point where I would insert pictures from the “crater” and sunset, but they are on my Nikon and if you recall, I can’t get those pictures right now.  There was supposed to be a meteor shower that night so we stayed past dark.  Combined, we saw 3 shooting stars.  Not quite the shower we had hoped for.

Saturday

Today was our last day on Maui and Jeremy, Jason and I did double breakfast.  First we went to McDonalds to have their deluxe local breakfast; eggs, spam, Portuguese sausage and rice.  It was definitely a win in my book.  We got back to the condo in enough time to pack the car and go to Slappy Cakes for second breakfast.  If you've never heard of it, you order batter and toppings and grill your own pancakes at the table.  Apparently they originated in Oregon, since I don’t often go to Oregon, I had no idea.  The pancakes were reasonable and it was fun to make all sorts of weird shapes.

At this point, we separated from the Jacobson family who was traveling back home and Jeremy & I got on the plane to go to Oahu for our honeymoon.

Once in Oahu, we made our way back to the Waikiki Grand (where we’re staying) and got rained on.  Wait, rain is too nice of a word for it, we drove right into a monsoon.  Based on the advice from two people, I didn't pack our rain jackets because “if it rains, it’ll be over in like 20 minutes”.  Yeah, the rain lasted about 2 hours.  Needless to say, we got drenched trying to get our luggage into the hotel.  There was an ABC store 2 doors down from the hotel so we attempted to go there to find me a rain jacket.  Of course they didn't sell any, super.  We then attempted to go to Walmart to find a jacket.  Again, no jackets.  I bought an umbrella and hoped that it would work.  By the time we got back to the hotel, the rain had subsided so I didn't need the umbrella.

Waterfalls, Pools and More Water!

Wednesday was a tourist day.  While we didn't do the Road to Hana, we did drive up part of it to get to Twin Falls.  The hike back to the falls was 1 mile round trip and totally worth it.  I have some awesome pictures from that trip on my fancy pants Nikon camera, but for some reason, my Surface isn't recognizing the SD card.  Sure, I could update the driver, but that would require me to have a reasonable amount of internet connectivity in my room, not just when we walk down the street to Starbucks.  I digress. The falls were awesome and later in the evening, Katie, Jason, the kids and I went to see the giant Banyan tree that everyone always talks about.  Jeremy had to do homework that was due that night so he stayed behind.  The tree was indeed giant and Jeremy got 100% on his assignment.

Thursday we made the trek down a very steep and rocky cliff side to get to the Olivine Pools.  Please use the Google to find out more information.  The pools were definitely warm and had some fish in them which was pretty cool.  The next stop on our adventure was to the Nakalele blowhole.  It was not blowing so we didn't bother climbing down to it.  That hole blew…see what I did there?  We still had a large part of the day left so we went to Black Rock to go snorkeling.  Again, the GoPro had died as I used it too much during the Olivine Pools trip.  It was pretty awesome snorkeling though.  We came upon a school of trigger fish (2 different kinds), an assortment of other fish and the piece de resistance, another turtle!  It was definitely a place we had to go back to.

Weddings and Pie

Monday was the day of the wedding so we didn't do a whole lot in the morning.  Jeremy and I went into downtown Lahaina and ate burgers from Cheese Burger in Paradise.  The name was better than the burger in my opinion, but Jeremy thought it was good.  Perhaps vacation food tastes better?  Since both Katie and Jason were a part of the wedding, we watched Indy & Joe that afternoon, transported them to and from the wedding and put them to bed.

Tuesday I went scuba diving in the morning with my brother (and two other people).  Unfortunately the battery on the GoPro I was borrowing had died so I have no pictures from under the sea L  While the coral and the fish weren't as cool as in Fiji, we did go into a bubble cave, see a monk seal (endangered species!) and see two turtles swim by.  I like to think that because I didn't bring the camera, we were able to see cool stuff.  Right? 

After diving, Jeremy and I trekked back into downtown Lahaina for lunch and at the suggestion of my boss, we ate at Kimo’s.  The food was pretty good, but the main reason I was insistent in going was that we had a coupon for hula pie.  The hula pie was kind of giant.  The “pie” is definitely recreateable as there are a million recipes on the internet for it.  I figure it’ll be a great thing to make for a summer party.

Aloha!

Saturday marked the beginning of our excursion to an island of relaxation; also known as Maui in this case.  The flight was long and tolerable and Indy & Joe did awesome as there was only 1 meltdown a piece which lasted less than a minute.  I'm very happy with Hawaiian Airlines as we not only got our beverage service (with snack bag), but we actually got a free lunch (over cooked, yet flavorful noodle dish with salad and macadamia nut bar) AND free glass of wine!  Katie didn't drink her wine so I got two glasses and let me say, the second half of the flight was laid back.

Both Jeremy and I spent the money to get the "all you can watch" tv/movie package (limited shows) and since Saturday, have had the American Dad theme song stuck in our heads.

Saturday was sort of a bust day as it was full of travel, grocery shopping and just plain figuring out what is going on.  Sunday, however, was spent at the beach.  There is probably a name for the beach we went to, but frankly, it didn't matter.  The view (as pictured below) was spectacular, the water was warm and the sand didn't want to come off of our skin.  Both Indy & Joe had a good time playing in the water and of course getting completely covered in sand.  We only did a small amount of snorkeling at this beach and saw a puffer fish and a trigger fish.  There was a few others, but they did not make my notable fish list...or perhaps I've forgotten the names, but whatever.

Sunday evening was spent at the Old Lahaina Luau.  Being as it was our first time in Hawaii, this was our first luau.  We were met with Mai Tais at the door and the drinks never stopped coming.  A majority of the menfolk who were with us consumed enough liquor to make the free bar worth it.  Not having had a lot of experience with authentic Hawaiian food, I will say this.  I found the buffet to taste pretty good.  I did end up trying the Ahi Poke and was delightfully surprised at how much I enjoyed it.  I tried the Poi and by itself, it tasted like flour water and with the salty Kalua pork, it wasn't that bad.  As per the wisdom of a coworker, I would like to note that we were indeed served Lomi Lomi tomato.

After dinner, we watch a show filled with hula, drums and stories of the Hawaiian culture.  While it was fun to watch, being seated on the ground was a little rough.  The plate of desserts did help keep my mind off of the body parts that were cramping and/or asleep.

Perhaps I could spend more time writing and proof reading this post, but frankly, I'm just proud of my self for getting this written before the trip ended.  Stay tuned for a post covering the adventures of Monday and Tuesday!

Reflections on Cancer Awareness

Let me start off by saying the color ribbon designated for colon cancer is brown.

Back to the main point, October is widely recognized as breast cancer awareness month and people of both genders wear pink in support. Gaining in popularity is prostate cancer awareness month in November celebrated by men growing mustaches all month-Movember. I assume women can grow mustaches if they like as well.

Here is the disconnect in my head. Breast cancer is designated as pink and prostate cancer is designated as light blue. Either everyone needs to wear pink in October and light blue in November or women shouldn't have to shave (anything) in October while men don't shave in November. I'm just saying it should be fair...

*I know multiple people with all of the cancers listed in this post and while it is a serious issue, this post was meant with no disrespect.

November Already? Updated!

Obviously I haven't been keeping up on the blog, I believe my last post was in July. Here's a really quick run-down of the last 4 months:

July-bought a house
August-officially graduated from Highline with 2 associate degrees; my niece turned 1
September-had a delightful time at 'family camp' which was in Ocean Shores this year; started a new job as a help desk support technician; my first day of "school" at Central Washington University, I broke my foot (the cripple foot, not the good one)
October-went from a walking boot to shoe and crutches to my grandpa's cane (no, he wasn't using it; the 30th my grandpa had some mini-strokes, he is home, but it's hard to tell the 'damage' since he has Alzheimer's; for Halloween Jeremy was Brian from Family Guy and I was a penguin
November-I am 'walking' cane free, but still slowly and carefully; I roasted 2 pumpkins and have plans to make pies for Thanksgiving; Jeremy cut down a tree/bush in our yard and insulated the pipes under the house.

I will make more of an effort to blog before this year ends.

Update: I don't know how it slipped my mind, but my little niece Indy is going to be a "big" sister in March!

Home Sweet Home

As of July 1, I am a homeowner! The house needs a wee bit of fixing up (patch the fence, new faucet, re-caulk the tub, etc), but in general it is move in ready. That being said, I've now spent slightly more time at the house than at Home Depot buying miscellaneous supplies. Jeremy, Wally and I hope to move in this weekend. I'll admit, I'm a little nervous as this is the first time in my life that I have ever moved and technically I'll be moving to a new city!

Stay tuned for before and after pictures!