Hawaii Part 1

Our trip has left us with mixed feelings...the good times were amazing, but the not so good times were...not so good. I might have to post the trip in more than one post (it might take some time...and plus not seem so overwhelming to read).

wednes DAY 1 [no more planes!]

We were full of excitement getting on the plane for Hawaii.

But after the flight all we wanted to do was sleep. Fortunately we had to wait to get our rental car, a nightmare to come. It was all prepaid, or so we thought...we had to pay airport fees, taxes, etc. plus it was going to cost $18 a night to park it at our hotel, which was out of parking spaces. We found somewhere cheaper about a 7 minute walk down the road.

thurs DAY 2 [things are looking up]

dole plantation This is a must do if you ever go to Hawaii! I had so much fun here! I got to open a fresh water clam and get a pearl! It was a trick to get you to buy the jewelry to mount the pearl in...but we wouldn't give in to buying a $120 necklace to put our $8 pearl in. The sales lady was a little bitter.

The best part though was seeing how the pineapples grow and all the different kinds of pineapple.

pupukea beach & snorkeling Our first snorkeling stop turned out to be awesome. The sand was pretty much the best sand I have ever sat in. Usually you want to avoid the sand and try your hardest to keep it out of your bathing suit, but the sand at Pupukea was like sesame seed sized crushed up sea shells--no dirt! It was comfortable to lay out in and then you could just brush it off, no problem!

We saw tons of butterfly fish, parrot fish, and other fish that I have no idea what they are called. None were the least bit scared of people! I was surprised with that considering it was a pretty small beach.

We lost our keys at Pupukea, and we had left our wallets and cell phones in the car. Crap. We searched for the keys all over, dumping our stuff out of our bags over and over again and retracing our steps. No luck.

Our car was still there--with a note on the dashboard to call Michael's cell phone for the key location. -Is someone holding our keys ransom? They found our keys stole our wallets and cell phones and want us to call for our "key location"?- We flag down a cop, he calls Michael's phone -no answer- and the car place, and the rental company sends out a key from Waikiki to the North Shore (opposite end of the island). As we wait for the taxi with our key,we are freaking out...we have to cancel credit cards, how do we get back on the plane without ID?, we have nothing! After 45-60 minutes of a racing heartbeat and waiting to know what the real damage we had incured (our wallets and such were in the trunk...) a man walks up to us that had found our key! He had left a message on Michael's cell phone (why didn't he say so!) where he had left the key (on top of the rear right wheel--the only one Michael didn't check). He found the number on our rental agreement papers.

It was proof to me that there are still some good people out there. Our wallets and cell phones were safe and sound in our trunk. We tried to cancel the taxi that was coming to us, but we had to pay for that. $115 and 45 minutes later we had a second pair of keys and were on our way.

birth stone We didn't have time for much after the tiny escapade of losing our keys, so we just made a little stop off the side of the road on our way back to Waikiki. People would leave bananas and things...I have no idea why...

whew. That's a lot for one post...more to come of our 8 day vacation!

Leavin' on a jet plane...

We're off to Hawaii tomorrow! Woohoo! I haven't had much time to post anything, so when we get back (next Wednesday) I'll tell you all about our camping excursion, the huge bruise on my leg (seriously ginormous), and, of course, HAWAII.

The Count Down

1 final down. 2 to go.

By tonight I will be one happy camper (actually on Friday I literally will be!). My last real test is tonight for my Northern Baroque Art History class (the only class I really need to graduate). And when I say real test, I mean really hard. 1-10 page blue book. 2 hours. 1 question. Sounds exhilirating, eh? It's a good hand work out.

Tomorrow is the stress-free stained glass final--show up and turn in all the junk I've made. And if you happen to be in Provo, two windows I did this semester are up in the HFAC on the 4th floor. Go look, you'll notice mine...they're the good ones. Ha. Anyhoo, I have got to go get super pumped for my final at 7pm! I am just too excited...

Bachelor's in Procrastination

I have completed my last day ever for my undergrad at BYU! All I have left is finals (dun dun dun...), which I am really not looking forward to. After thursday, I will be officially done. If college has taught me anything, it is that I am really good at waiting until the last minute to do something. For example, right now I am needlessly updating you all when I really need to be reading. It's gotten worse since Michael finished--we used to sit at our computers and stress out over exams, but now he just has so much time to do nothing! (Not really nothing...but after school I still have to do more work!) I am jealous. Come Thursday night...=)

Michael and I just moved this past weekend. I don't know why we keep doing this to ourselves, but we have this habit of packing everything into boxes and moving all in one day. We started Saturday morning at 9am and unloaded the last box from the trailor at midnight. The day will come when we just have too much crap to do this. Plus, my arms felt like bricks yesterday--they were so sore! Our apartment is full of boxes and I am connected to someone else's internet since ours won't be up until next week. Don't tell. We are still in Provo, just a few blocks south of campus. Too bad I only have to go to campus a few more times now that we are within walking distance!

Well, I better get studying so I don't fail my last finals!

Buried at Sea

Michael won't let me get a guinea pig, so we've always had fish. Wendell was the first; this was during our single days at the Glenhood. The window got left open in my apartment by a roommate (left unnamed...) and poor Wendell froze up like a popsicle. We went all out for a funeral--reading scriptures, I prepared short eulogy, and we sang "Each life that touches ours for good". =)


It was quite a night to remember. As I plucked Wendell out of his bowl with a plastic fork (we didn't have anything else to get him out with) Rachelle shouts, "AHHH! DON'T DROP HIM!" Of course, it scares me and the dead little fish body flops on the floor. By this point, everyone is rolling on the floor laughing, but at the same time trying not to gag because of how much Wendell stunk! And Rachelle had to capture the moment on camera.

Before the burial...

Dropping Wendell mid burial.

Anyway. That was a long introduction to our beta, Ernie. We got Ernie in September when we moved back to Provo. Being all stressed during these last finals in April and new classes starting, I forgot to change his water. When I finally did change it, I swear Ernie had gone blind. I would drop the food in, it would pass right by his face, but he wouldn't go for it. I decided to put him by the window since it has gotten warm. I figured that would cheer him up. Michael thought it was a good place for him too. Well, I guess windows aren't the best places for fish. Ernie is in a better place now(...not by a window) and was laid to rest today.

June 10, 2008

RIP Ernie

Rain Rain Go Away

AGH! It's freezing here! So muggy and wet outside that it's hard to believe that it's June. It has been raining on and off for the past 2 days. Just when I was looking forward to summer too.

Plans have changed, and it looks like we'll be in Provo for the summer (yay!). Michael got a job with a guy (Gary) that owns the waterpark 7 peaks, the mini golf place Trafalga, some apartments, and other odd companies doing maintainence and odd and end stuff. Gary wants him to stay, we negotiated and worked out some stuff, so we are staying! I might be getting a job with 7 Peaks as their head graphic designer, but we'll see if I actually get hired. I really want the job, because it would be awesome experience and I am excited to work for a real business instead of doing just random "commissions". I have always done whatever I have wanted; a structured job would give me practice in designing for certain audiences.

Nonetheless, I will be done with school in 2 weeks and our vacation is in 20 days! Woohoo! I am overdue for a sunburn and spending a week with absolutely nothing to do.

Me vs. the mountain

Michael and I went mountain biking up Sundance! It was so much fun. You ride the ski lift up and it's all down hill from there! It was really nice riding up the lift during the summer. It was nice and warm, a bit of a change from struggling to keep your tips up and not dropping your poles.

Michael was showing off while I totally biffed it just going around a corner. I felt really dumb.