Hawaii

Ok it is about time that I get this post out! Troy and I were lucky enough to go to Hawaii in August, that's right it happened in August and I am blogging about it now. Lame.

Anyways, Troy and his dad needed to head out to Laie because their company is doing th HVAC for the temple renovations there. The wives got to go along and I was SOOOO Happy! Troy just called me up one day and said "hey do you want to go to Hawaii in two weeks?" I love my life.



They have a little house right across from the Polynesian Cultural Center that they have been renting out for their workers and so we got to stay there. It was a really nice place. My sister-in-law Cassie and her husband Mason decided they couldn't pass up the opportunity to have a free place to stay and transportation so they came along too. It was my first time in Hawaii and it was a blast! I fell in love!

This was the view behind the house we were staying in. Gorgeous!

Troy and Mason sportin the farmers tans!

For the first two days we hung out at the Huki Lau beach and the North Shore. Can I just say how much I love the Ocean? Cuz I really really do. The next day we headed to Honolulu and stopped off at the Dole plantation. It was pretty fun except I got really irritated with an asian woman that worked there who said "ALOHA" literally every 5 seconds with a strong asian accent. I finally just had to get out of there. If you heard it, you would understand.

Here's Troy with his dad and sister Cassie enjoying some pineapple treats.

After the Dole plantantion we went on our merry way to Honolulu in hopes of checking out Pearl Harbor and the Swap Meet and the stadium. Unfortunately Pearl Harbour was completely out of tickets for the day so we didn't get to go. We did head over to the Swap Meet though and we all left with a few souvenirs.

Troy and I stayed in Honolulu while the rest of the group headed back to Laie. We did some boogie boarding at Waikiki and then met up with some good friends Paul and Nancy with their cute daughter Abigail. Paul is getting his masters in Honolulu right now. We grabbed some yummy dinner with them and went and ate it on the beach.

Here's cutie pie Abigail building a sand castle

The Garner Family

It was really awesome catching up with them. We hadn't seen them since they had graduated from BYU-Idaho so it was a real treat, not to mention we were in HAWAII!!

Thanks for the good time guys! Hope to see you again soon!

What a beautiful sunset at Waikiki beach



The next day we hung out at Huki Lau Beach again and there were some serious waves that day. I caught a couple with the boogie board, but they started getting bigger and bigger and I was getting a little nervous. Of course I hesitated a little longer than I should have as a GIANT wave came toward me and I got SLAMMED! I was a mess when I got up and my chest was burning like nothing else, everyone was asking me if I was ok, but all I could say was "Burning, burning!" That salt water is a killer!

The Green Family

Terry relaxing on the beach

The next day we did some snorkeling at sharks cove. We saw loads of fish that day and I really enjoyed it... when Troy was by my side. I didn't like being out there alone and I really didn't like it when the fish got incredibly close to me. They were clearly used to being around people. I know, I know, I'm a pansy. I let fear take over my life!

That day I tasted the best fish tacos EVER, and I don't even like fish, but they were delicious! I topped it off with a yummy snow cone. Did I mention I love Hawaii?!!

Troy and I spent the week driving around in this sweet Mustang Convertable. It was a lot of fun and we thought we were really cool until we saw pretty much every other tourist on the island driving one too...

We still enjoyed ourselves

On our last night we headed over to the Polynesian Cultural Center for the luau and the big night show. I was really impressed with that place and it was a lot of fun. One thing that added to the fun was the fact that we got to meet up with Angie and Mike and their adorable kids Brylie and Tyken. It was so awesome to see them, I think it had been almost 4 years since I had seen Angie. They were nice enough to come meet us at the PCC for a short but sweet visit. Brylie and I became best friends for the short while we were together, holding hands and all, but I have an incling she might be like that with everyone. She's hilarious!

We were feeding all the fish some food! And by food I really mean little rocks and the occasional pellet we found on the ground haha.

Thanks for coming to see us Wynes family! It was great to see you!

The next photos are at the Luau. It was a lot of fun.

Here's a few glamour shots of Troy and I

Roasted Pig. Yummy!

I treated myself to a delicious Pina Colada. This is what it's all about folks, hanging out in Hawaii sipping a Pina Colada. I'd been waiting my whole life for this!

Sharesies!

Alright so the M.C. lady called up everyone who was celebrating an anniversary or honeymoon. Troy and I had just had our one year anniversary the day before we left on our trip so we decided to go up. She had us all say where we were from and how many years we were celebrating and then we enjoyed a nice dance together to some hawaiian music.

This is how Troy and I danced together. You can tell we're still newlyweds ;)

Cassie and I got a picture with the guy who performs with fire like a mad man in the night show. Cassie insisted on a picture with him because she thought he was sexy. Don't deny it Cass.

The night show was really really awesome and I'm so happy we went. My favorite were the Tahitian dancers because of the way they can move their butts. It's seriously incredible. I keep practicing in the mirror, but it just doesn't even come close.

On our last day in Hawaii we headed to the beach again. It was a little overcast that day and pretty windy so I passed on getting in the water and just hung out on the beach. Troy, Mason and Craig all went in to do a some boogie boarding and got beaten up pretty bad in the HUGE waves, but still had a lot of fun.

I was able to get a nice shot of Mason's back. This is what happens when you let Cassie put sunscreen on your back. Hilarious!!

We flew back home that night. I had come down with a bit of a cold and took some Sudafed P.M. which pretty much knocked me out for the whole flight.

The trip was a blast and we all had a lot of fun together. I really hope to be able to go back someday.

I Love Hawaii!

Camping Trip

Troy and I planned a camping trip with some friends back in August. We had been planning on doing it all summer and finally picked a date and made it happen. It turned out the only weekend we could all do it was on the weekend of our first anniversary. I'll be honest, I didn't necessarily picture us spending our anniversary camping in Idaho with a couple of our friends, but it was a lot of fun and I'm glad we did it. We picked a nice little spot in Idaho which was the half way point for all of us to meet at. Troy and I left after work Thursday and were planning to meet up with our friends Paul and Brenda and the campsite that night. Our friends Taj and Alison were coming the next day.

Troy ran out of gas on the way. Running out of gas happens to be one of pet peives so I was not very impressed about it. I guess he was a little turned around and figured the next town was just a few miles away. Try 60. It was actually really incredible how long that empty tank of gas lasted us, once we had completely ran out we coasted down the side of the road for an entire mile!! At that point I just had to laugh. Here we were in a big truck pulling a huge boat creeping along the freeway. By the time we stopped we were only a mile away from the next town which wasn't too far from our campsite. Paul and Brenda had already arrived and were nice enough to come to our rescue and bring us some gas.

Here's the man of the hour filling up



Brenda and I looking a little cold

So once the jerry can was FINALLY empty (it took FOREVER) Troy goes to start the truck and the battery was dead... so Paul came to rescue once again and luckily had jumper cables with him and gave us a boost. Way to pull through for us you guys!

We finally made it to the campsite and had to set up our tent in the dark. The dark did not keep me from discovery FOUR earwigs in our tent! Our campsite was infested with them! I told Troy I wouldn't sleep until they were dead, he couldn't beleive what pansy I was being (first time camping together) but he was a good sport and got out of his sleeping bag and killed them for me. What a good man! He finally forced me to stop looking for them and shut off the flashlight. I slept with my hood tied tightly around my head to protect my ears/brain that night just in case. In the morning I woke up to a spider crushed under my head on my pillow. I was so glad I had my hood on!! The earwig routine went on for the next two nights, I have no idea how they kept making it into our tent! By the last night I think Troy was ready to kill me. :)


Here's a nice shot of our campground spot. It really was a nice campround. We were right beside a pretty lake and the place was really well kept. Everything except for the one bathroom Brenda and I venture off to one night. I swear there was every bug/spider/beetle imaginable crawling around that bathroom, if you think I'm exaggerating ask Brenda yourself! I could hardly squeeze out a drop I was so terriffied in there! If you haven't noticed... I really don't like bugs.

Anyways, in the morning we woke up and Paul and Brenda cooked up a delicious breakfast and we discovered a giant owl sitting in the tree above us. I wish I had taken a picture because he was really cool. After breakfast we decided to head out on the lake with the boat, we probably would have gotten in the water, but it was actually a really windy and cold day. The waves out on this lake were crazy so it made for a choppy yet fun ride.

Taj and Alison showed up in the afternoon and we just had a good time hanging out for the rest of the day. That night we had a sneaky little visitor, Mr. Racoon. We were all sitting around the fire and Alison got up to go get something from her tent when he scared the crap out of her. We tried to chase him away, but he just ran up the tree above us and watched and waited. We quickly packed up all the food into our coolers and finally chased him away. Well he was sure to come back. Paul had towered all the coolers and bins on top of each other and this little guy climbed to the top and reached the smaller zipped up cooler bags. He managed to unzip the coolers and eat the dozen eggs that were in there. You'd think that would fill him up, but he then tried to get into our big plastic bin and actually broke one of the hard plastic handles off the thing! I was amazed! If the other coolers hadn't been on top of it we would have lost a lot of food that night.

Here's the little thief!




The next morning consisted of a lot of lounging around. We were all trying to get warm in the sun.



We mocked Troy for bringing his full on lounge chair, but everyone wanted a turn to lay in it.

Here's Taj taking a nice little nap

Troy trying to reclaim his chair from me.



That afternoon we decided we'd better just suck it up and brave the colder temperature and just get in the water. We headed out for some tubing, wakeboarding, and surfing.

Blowing up the tubes.

Taj and Paul taking a ride

The girls going for it

Alison did a great job Wakeboarding

I wish I would have taken some pictures of Troy surfing, he really got the hang of it and managed to stay behind the boat for a really long time. By the end of it we were all freezing, but I think we were all happy we did it.

That night was our last night and we all just hung around the fire again trying to stay warm.

Please don't judge the fact that I am wearing capris, socks and flip flops. Hahaha I wasn't prepared for how cold it was!

We left Sunday morning just in time to shower up, pack and rush to the airport to fly to Hawaii!

We had an awesome time with our friends and hope to make it a tradition except next year we hope Tyler and Callie, April and Trevor, and Dan and Elizabeth will be able to make it!

Secondhand Serenade Concert

Back in July, Troy and I headed out to Thanksgiving Point for the Secondhand Serenade concert. Before the concert we met up with Falisha and her boyfriend Scott as well as her roommate Sydney and her boyfriend Nate. We stopped at JCW's for some yummy dinner and were on our way to the concert.

Falisha's feet fit the BYU flip flops on the wall at JCW's perfectly!

The concert was outside and so everyone brought blankets and hung out until the show started.

Sweet pose guys!


This is how I pose with my little handicap husband!

The cute couple

Alright, so we got a little bit bored waiting for the next band so on the count of 3 each person had to flash a pose on the spot. This was Falisha's.

Scott's

Sydney's

Nate's

Troy's

And then there's mine.... I'm pretty sure I won for the ugliest pose..... who am I?

There were 3 opening bands:
"We Shot the Moon" - I really like these guys
"Parachute" - Awesome
and I really can't remember the third band so I guess they weren't that good.

After they had all played it was finally time for Secondhand Serenade. They put on a good show, but to be honest the main guy is kind of a try hard loser haha. Luckily I still enjoy his music.

There was practically no security at the concert and so Troy and I decided to see how close we could make it to the stage. We went to the side of the stage past all the tour buses and actually ended up climbing up on the side of the stage right beside the drummer! Haha it was a little ridiculous that nobody stopped us and nobody seemed to mind us being there, but we couldn't hear the music as well so we decided go back down.

Here's a shot from on the stage

It was a really fun night and I was really happy we went because it had been a long time since Troy and I had been to a concert together. It was also great to spend some time with Falisha and to get to know her cool boyfriend and friends.