Aloha!

Love this pic, pretty much sums up my feelings about this trip :)

Okay, I don't know the best way to include all of the adventures from Hawaii, so I'll go through chronologically with some highlights...and then pictures too. BEST vacation EVER!!!

*With the time difference we were wide awake at 5 am, so we walked to sunset beach and watched the sunrise, gorgeous! We were so happy to feel warm water on our feet! There were tons of people camping out and tons sleeping on the beach, apparently that's totally normal here.
*Went to a few farmers markets for some fresh Mango, Pineapple (AMAZING) avacado's, bananas, oranges (Which when they're grown locally are REALLY ugly and scary looking, but so juicy, sweet and delish!) tomatoes, and I forget what else, but it was fun
*We also went to the Swap Meet at Aloha Staduim...sheesh it;s like saturdat maret times I don't know a hundred. Rows and rows of booths...lots of the stuff was the same in the booths, tons had t-shirts "On special" 7 for $20 and tons of the same jewelry, but I did find some unique things, I bougth some hawaiian fabric ot make some things with,a nd coin pearls. They're pearls that are flat-ish and are slightly smaller than a dime, they are my FAV, always wanted some! AT first I got a bracelet, then mentioned to John that I wished I would have asked them to make me a matching necklace, and then he mysteriously wanted to split up, and when we met back up, he had had them make me a necklace...so sweet!
*We drove to Waikiki, and browsed the shops a little, ate some chili-fries and a shave ice and watched the surfers on the beach, it was so crowded. We then found the place where all the little cheap shops are, that also have a lot of the same stuff, we got souvies for the neices and nephews, and I got an adorable sarong.
*We went swimming in Waikiki, I really don't like swimming in salty water! It's confusing b/c it;s warm like a pool, but salty, YUCK! I didn't mind it when we were snorkeling and surfing though...
*We went to church, and everyone who speaks kind of almost yells "Aloooo-Ha" and then everyone in the congregation says it back. It took my surprise the first time, I almost started laughing out loud! Also I love how Hawaiian's are so open and so bold...for example the older man who lead the music was SO loud, he sounded great though, just sounded like he had his own amp hooked up to him. :)
*Went to the DOLE pineapple factory, ate some YUMMY pineapple ice-cream, and learned a ton about pineapple, like did you know it takes like 18 months for a pineapple to grow, and only one pineapple grows on each plant! I had no idea!
*The 29th was our anniversary, we went snorkeling...my first time. Totally addicted. Went to sharks cove, don't worry, no sharks :) BUt tons of BRIGHT beautiful fish! And john is so nerdy/cool he knew most of the names of all the fish... and no he;s never been to hawaii before, he just really likes salt water fish:)
*We drank coconut milk straight out of a coconut with a straw, it was surprisingly sweet and yummy!
*For our anniversary I gave John like a whole new wardrobe, which wasn't a surprise, but I also gave him a pair of shoes that was a surprise and which he loved. And HE gave ME...Real pearl earrings with diamonds on them, so gorgeous, the diamond part is hard to explain, just know they are beautiful! He is so thoughtful, and I honestly didn't expect much, I mean we were in HAWAII! But then he really outdid himself, and gave me a beautiful leather journal, and wrote about our first year of marriage, things we learned especially by being separated, and other more personal cute things, it's an anniversary journal he said, I will write in it too, and ever year we both will on our anniversary. Okay I KNOW right? I have the sweetest husband. If he reads this, which I know he will, he will be so embarrassed, sorry babe, had to.
*Sadly we went out to eat at a NASTY place for dinner on our anniversary, there's nothing worse than expecting a great meal, getting a terrible one, and then having to pay a ton for the food you didn't even eat. Oh well, live and learn.
*Got sunburnt snorkeling despite the gobs of waterproof sunscreen we put on...ouch.
*Our first rental had bikes, so we rode them around when we could, to the beach etc.
*We took Surfing lessons and yes I got up! A few times, and it turns out John is a natural! He caught tons of waves on his own! AND we saw sea turtles while we were surfing! SO cool!
*We went to the temple, and we missed the session we were trying to get in for, and we only had a small window of time, so we got to do sealings! SO special for our anniversary, it was really really cool.
*We went to the Polynesian cultural center! AMAZING! I had no idea it was so big! We didn't get to see everything, but the luau was wonderful, especially the pineapple smoothie, and the show we saw was "Horizons" I became obsessed, I LOVED all of it. John was pretty tired, but I thoroughly enjoyed every second. It was awesome!
*We flew to the big island and drove to the Hilo side, holy amazing rain forest! The place we stayed was a KILLER deal, a huge estate, well manicured grounds, our own little cottage, privat waterfalls, rain forest...hard to describe, just AMAZING!
*We went to the Botanical Garden, this place was insane, a whole area devoted to Orchids! And just tons of other exotic things, I was in awe! So beautiful! PS...did you know that there is an orchid that smells like chocolate??? NO joke!
*TONS of beautiful waterfalls and hikes!
*We went to Volcano National Park, saw Kilauea, and the steam plume (There isn't flowing lava from the crater of it that you can see, but tons and tons of steam from the constant rain that collects inside, and then the lava makes it into steam.)
*We hiked through a lava tube cave/tunnel and went deeper with flashlights to explore...it was so cool!
*we went to see the lava flowing into the ocean at sunset, but sadly the people said the lava stopped that morning! Bummer!
*We got to watch conference together and it was on TV! Sure it started at 6 am, but it was still great! And great to watch it holding hands with my best friend.
*We went to more farmers/crafters markets, got some more fruit and I got a puzzle ring, always wanted one!
*We drove up to mauna kea summit where they have like the biggest telescopes in the world, watched the sunset, and then stargazed for awhile, yes it was very romantic. We also tried astronaut ice cream. Very interesting. I'd eat it again.
*We watched sunday sessions as well, and Pres. Monson Documentary/life story. Very cool.
*We went horseback riding on a Hawaiian cattle ranch for 2 1/2 hours, my horses name was Blaze, but he didn't live up to it...he could barely keep up with John's horse, he was lazy, but still wonderful! If you know me well, you know what a dream this was!
*We drove to the other side of the island, KONA, and stayed in a tree house. There were green geckos with orange and blue markings, so cool! We also had a private jacuzzi on our back patio.
*We rented a sea kayak, and rowed out to a place called cooks monument that has the best snorkeling in Hawaii, it's like a clear aquarium there, amazing!
*We went scuba diving!!! It was my first open water dive after my certification. We saw the COOLEST stuff, garden eels, octopus, tons of fish and creatures like sea cucumber! AND i had a very stupid (on my part) and close encounter with a wolf eel...Almost got my hand bit off, I was practically serving it to him on a silver platter! Long story, another blog, another time.
*A couple that went diving with us was from South Africa, and the fellow was a triathlete. Turns out that weekend was to be the Iron man triathlon, and the three best triathletes from each country are invited, and this chap was one of the three from South Africa!
*Went boogie boarding! SO fun, though John says we didn't do it for reals because we were just on the waves breaking near the shore, he says we were pretty much just frolicking. Whatever. It was awesome, SO fun! I liked it better than surfing, less work, and more rides! Yeah!
*We went snorkeling some more at another beach and saw SEA TURTLES!!! One even came close to me and I touched its flipper for a minute, and no i didn't chase it, it floated over to me! I was SO stoked, I saw about 5 of them, still waiting for some underwater film to process so pics of them are forth coming :)
*We built a stellar sand castle
*We got to see (but not attend, it was closed, plus they don't do clothing rentals...fyi) the Kona temple. It;s a little one, so beautiful!
*We saw all the ironman hype and tons of athletes training, but flew back to Oahu on the day of the race.
*Had the BEST shrimp I have ever had from a van called Giovannis. It was amazing!
*Also, the most AMAZING shaved ice, from Matsumotos...my word I think I wanna open up a shave ice-shack now!
*Went surfing again, I wiped out a few too many times, but we still had fun!
* we wanna move to hawaii, maybe not forever, but for a bit anyway. Unarguably the most amazing vacay that ever was. We had so much fun. The best part though was being able to be in the same place with my very best friend. I am the luckiest gal!


Okay, here's some pics, some need explanation, some don't :) And I added them sorta chronologically, but then it's all backwards, whatev. ENjoy!

Snorkeling=AMAZING!!!

John, skin diving, it's where you hold your breath and go deeper to see things more up close

Me skin diving

Everyone looks glam in a snorkel and mask!

sea kayaking out to cooks monument

more amazing fish, the pics really don't do them justice!

On our scuba boat before the adventure

We are SO cool! Getting ready to snorkel, here is where I found the 5 turtles, and like I said, pics ore forthcoming!

Sand castle

Kona Temple

John is SO sad because the Lava wasn't flowing, sheesh what a dissappointment!

Waiting for t he sun to go down so we could see the lava...the smiles on our faces are becasue they hadn't told us yet that the thing had stopped flowing that morning!

Dream come true, horseback riding, the ocean behind. SO gorgeous!

Random shot taken out of the car window, turned out nicely i think :)

Me standing at top of the waterfall at our rental place...it was beautiful

This is the waterfall behind us

In a banana grove!

The volcano Plume...so exciting!

Right outside the lava tube/cave

John impressing me with his tarzan-like skills:) seriously though, this was the COOLEST tree!

John, climbing the coconut tree...he got just a little father than that, but hurt his feet

This is our cottage. so cute.

Getting off the plane, climbing down to the ground...I thought it was cool because I had never done it before, and it's just like the movies. Yeah I know I am a dork.

Astronaut Ice-cream

At the summit and Mauna Kea, to the right is one of the observatories

ANother observ.

Rainbow falls

Onahu falls, or something...

Akaka Falls

Not sure what falls, just under a bridge on the way to the botanical garden

The roots of these trees are SO cool, and exposed

One of the farmers markets picking out some produce

GO ahead, do a double take... this IS a man and his dog on a surf board. Gnarly right?

Sunset at sunset beach

With our surf dude...his name is Miles Padaca, he's a competitive and proffessional surfer, owned our first rental place, and taught us to surf! SHAKA!!!
BY THE WAY, the place where we went surfing is where they film LOST. Miles said it's crazy when they come to town to film. Cool huh? I've never seen much of LOST, but for those of you who watch it...cool right?

In Waikiki in front of the statue of Duke...the king of modern surfing

Ready to board the plane to Kona, actually our very first flight together.

Matsumotos shave ice, still dreaming about this stuff...mmmmm

On the canoe at the Polynesian Cultural Center

At the Luau

The aforementioned smoothie, so yummy!

Even though this pic is blurry (We had someone at our table take it for us, and after she got this one in, the camera died) I love it. AT the luau they had everyone celebrating an anniversary come up and dance, john is putting a flower in my hair. it was fun.

Okay well, if you made it this far you are a true friend! I honestly had the time of my life, the most fun ever. Saying good-bye to John was a heart-wrencher but we only have like 4 1/2 months to go before we can be together again! YEAH! I love this man, my husband, my best friend.

Now I recoup, and get packed up for Jordan on Monday the 20th...yikes 5 days!