Hawaii = Paradise

I am now home from my amazing Hawaii vacation.  I absolutely loved Hawaii and told my mom that I wasn't going to come home.  We stayed on the island of Oahu for an entire week.  The temperature was in the 80's the entire time and we really enjoyed the heat.  Here is a little bit of what we did and some pictures to go along with it.

On Friday we picked up our rental car and decided to take a drive all the way around the island.  We were in awe of how green everything was and just the sheer beauty of the island.  It really is magnificent to see.  We did end up at Waikiki Beach, so the pictures below here are of our trip around the island, ending at Waikiki Beach.

On Saturday we wanted to hit up the beach.  On our way to the beach we stopped at Matsumotos on the North Shore and had a shaved ice with ice cream.  It was awesome!!!  We then went to Hukilau Beach, however it wasn't the cleanest beach ever, so we decided not to stay.  We ended up going to the Waimea Valley Botanical Gardens, which was beautiful.  It poured on us while we were there, but luckily we were in our swimming suits so it wasn't a big deal.

On Sunday we attended the Singles Ward in Wahiawa.  They were the most welcoming people I have ever met.  I don't even feel that welcome in my own ward.  They even invited us to stay for their "Break the Fast".  After church we then went for a drive and went out to the Ko'Olina Resort.  We were told that the Black Pearl was docked there due to the building of a new Disney Resort there.  So we went and checked it out.

On Monday we went to the temple open house and then spent the rest of the day at the Polynesian Cultural Center.  The night show there is amazing, it was really good.  Also the food at the luau was delicious.  After the show we were trying to find an old friend of mine and one of the dancers took us back stage to see what we could find out.  It was really cool to see back there.  We didn't end up finding my friend, but I did get to talk to him on the phone a couple of times.

On Tuesday we went to the Dole Plantation and took the ride on the train and did the garden tour.  We also ate lunch there, which was divine!!  We had Kalua Pork with BBQ Sauce and Pineapple.  Afterwards we went back to Ko'Olina and spent the rest of the day on the beach.  It was a beautiful day and we very much enjoyed our time on the beach without being rained on for once.

On Wednesday we got up early to go to Pearl Harbor and then we went to the Swap Meet.  It was a lot of fun, however I did get a little bit of heat stroke, which sucked, but we still had a lot of fun.  The feeling at Pearl Harbor is seriously amazing, I couldn't believe it.  It is really cool, it is as if you are standing on hallowed ground.

Hawaii was great and I am so glad that I got to go.  I also got to stay with my amazing relatives which I love so much.  I am so greatful to you for letting us stay at your house.  Your kids are adorable and I miss them already.  I hope you get to come up soon so we can see you again.  Here are a couple pictures of the kids and an awesome video of them jamming out in the car.

Halloween Costumes

Just a quick post so that you can see the awesome Halloween Costumes we made for work.  Amazingly enough we made it to the top 3 of the group costumes :) so I was really happy with it.

The Count Down

Waiting for my trip to Hawaii. . . . . I think it has become one of the hardest things to wait for.  I am SO very excited to be able to get out of here and go on a vacation.  I can't wait to get to see my awesome family in Hawaii and get to spend some time with them as well.  Mostly I am just excited for a full week of not having a schedule, getting some much needed r&r, and enjoying the beaches in paradise.  However, I am pretty sure that the next two and a half weeks are going to last much longer then I would like them to.  I do have plenty to fill my time though.

Today I had to meet with one of the members of our Bishopric and I now have a calling.  It has seriously been bugging me for the last few weeks that I was the only one in my group of friends without one.  Well, I guess I got what I asked for. . . I am now the Mingles Committee Co-chair.  So in to the wonderful world of Mix 'n' Mingles I shall dive.  I don't really know how I am feeling about the calling right now, but hopefully it will be good.  One of my good friends was sitting behind me in Sacrament meeting today when the sustained me and all he could do was laugh at me. . . .maybe I will have to rope him in to helping me out ;)  Anyhow, it should prove to be somewhat interesting anyway.

I also have the task of making 6 Halloween costumes before the 29th of October.  There is a group of us at work that have decided to do something as a group for our annual costume contest.  It should be a lot of fun and we are hoping that we could win us a prize.  If not though, we will have had a good time at least.  However, I really do need to get started on making the costumes, although they shouldn't be too hard.  And yes, I am going to keep it a secret for now, because it is going to be a surprise at work.  I will post pics later so you can see what kind of fools we make of ourselves.

And last, but not least, I do still need to finish getting ready to leave for Hawaii and I have that daunting task of packing ahead of me.  Packing is my very least favorite part of vacationing, but it is oh so worth it when you get there.  For the cause of Hawaii I have now purchased 2 new pairs of flip flops, 2 new beach towels, several new books (have to have reading material for the flight), and all sorts of odds and ends.  Hawaii has just been on the brain for weeks and it is only getting worse the closer it gets.  Oh and for those that are unaware, I also got a new position at work, I started on October 1st.  I am now scheduling appointments for one of our sales reps . . . and the best part is, everytime he signs on a new contract, I get a commission.  It rocks!!!  I am absolutely loving my new job. . .  I really enjoy it and LOVE not having to take calls anymore.  It is GREAT!!!!

The Fall Travel Bug

For the last two years I get this random need to travel somewhere.  Last year I decided I wanted to see Disneyland at Halloween time.  My best friend Hilary and I then booked it and spent 4 fabulous days in California at the Disneyland Resort.  Well this year the travel bug has hit me again. . . .

I went to get a temple recommend on Sunday and my Bishop was telling me about his recent trip to Hawaii with his wife.  I told him that I had a couple of cousins that live there and he asked me why I hadn't gone to visit them, that it was a great excuse to go.  Well this is what started it all.  I went home and started pricing airfare, hotel and car rental and then posted on my facebook account that I was thinking about planning a trip to Hawaii.  The next day when I looked at my facebook account my cousin's wife had posted that she would love for me to come visit and that I could stay with them if I did.  Well we started sending messages back and forth, basically me double and triple checking that she wouldn't mind if I crashed at their house for a week and if I could bring a friend along as well.  She also told me that the temple open house was scheduled for Oct. 20-Nov. 13, which did me in.  I decided I NEEDED to be there for the temple open house.

My next goal was to find someone to go with me.  I had talked to my other best friend Christine earlier in the week and she had told me that she was going to Orlando with her brother, so I figured she was out.  So I decided I was going to make a proposal to Hilary about it.  I did my research because I knew that she would ask about prices and everything.  I ended up finding airfare for $507 round trip with only 1 layover, which I thought was an AMAZING deal.  When I calculated everything I found that it would cost about $600 for airfare and car rental for a week.  (My thought was how can I turn that down?)  So I talked to Hilary and she looked to see what she could do.  Unfortunately her answer was no, :'(  which honestly bummed me out quite a bit.  I was in a bad mood the rest of the day.

The next day I was talking to Christine again and told her that I had talked to Hilary about it and that I couldn't find anyone to go with me.  I was telling her how I had even got the pricing info and everything.  Well by the time I had told her the entire story she said, "Cindy, let me think about it".  Later that day we talked about it a little bit more and that evening she text me and said she was in.  This seriously made my day.  I'm not even kidding when I say that I did a little dance and have had a permanent smile on my face ever since.  So on Thursday I booked our airfare and we are now going to make a visit to my cousins house on the beautiful island of Oahu.  I am soooooooo excited to be able to hang out with my cousin's amazing wife (he is in the Navy, and is gone right now) and get to see Hawaii.  I cannot wait to go!!!!!!  Seven weeks and Christine and I will be in Hawaii, enjoying paradise.