I had an anniversary

Where have I been!? I completely missed my one year anniversary for my blog!! It was supposed to be huge and epic and monumental to the point of everyone being amazed and in awe and yet now…nuttin’.

15 days later, I stand on the dock looking out at the empty water where the boat sailed away without me. {nice analogy, no?} Instead of being all, ‘my blog made it a year, hooray. who would have thought all you lovely ‘buddies’ would want to read what I say’ {which seriously, I say frequently}, I instead talked about being given the go to Hawaii after my dad was in the hospital.

::Ce la vie::

It has been great blogging, though. I never knew just how much I’d love it and getting to know so many new and wonderful friends has been a great bonus. I’ve really enjoyed helping new bloggers with tips and tricks and am always happy to show them how to attach their email to their comments so us bloggers can reply to them.

{if you’re not sure what I’m talking about, email me so I can help you}
..and if you have any questions about anything blogging, comment or email and I'd be really happy to help in any way I can. I’m a giver…and sometimes a taker, but mainly a giver.

Since its technically not my blog Anny, I’m going to round out the Maui trip.

The last few days were complete relaxation. (except for the whole Road to Hana thing… we weren’t feeling that at all and turned around 1/2 way into it).


Though we did get fresh Krispy Kreme and see the rain pouring coming back! Which made up for it.


For the first time ever, we took a kayak out to see the whales. Now if you’re anyone who’s anyone, you’ve heard to take a 2 man kayak is relationship suicide. I never could understand that. I’ve heard stories of couples fighting the whole time, getting upset and frustrated with each other the entire time they paddled.

So when it came time for us to hop in, I was really curious how we’d fare. Wouldn’t you know there wasn’t a peep of frustration from either. We paddled in sync and when we weren’t, one would pause to get back in the rhythm. We were happy go lucky the entire time. Even talking about it and glad we weren’t among the couples who fight over paddling.

It was glorious out on the water. 3 whales were near by and we’d hear them blow air and pop up. After an hour of being out in the quiet and peaceful water, we saw one of the whales coming straight toward us. We sat straight up, eager to see how close he’d come. Popping his body up, going back under, then closer; popping up and going back under. We were getting so excited. Not 40 yards away, he pops up again, we sit in awed silence. Then from behind, a speed boat full of rowdy people comes flying in to see the whale…and he never popped up again.

We were so disappointed. As I sit back while G-man paddles us back in, we see his head come up about 200 yards away.

Our final days there, we lounged at the adult pool, sipped our cocktails and shopped our little hearts out.


Got pedicures together (his without nail polish of course) and ate some of the most delicious food we’d ever had. Each morning enjoying the special from their amazing chef and feeling special from the staff.
Waffles with baked pineapple and rum whipped cream…heaven in your mouth!

that’s me and G-man….I’ve got skills.
ok, that’s not me…


{I’m teaching G-man how to get the focus on the correct subject. …still teaching}


Reality struck us hard when we entered the airport where the woman behind the counter was unnecessarily rude and condescending to me about my carry on luggage. I told her I hoped she has a better day, and walked away determined to not have her ruin our good moods.

No more Four Seasons treatment, we were back in the real world again.
--------

Have you ever taken a kayak with your other half?! How’d you guys do?

Pin It Now!

Just blate it out

Note to self: Photo challenges are boring!!

I think I heard crickets all day yesterday. But that is A-Okay because today its all about my ever so awesome double blate. The highly anticipated..{by like 2 of you} story is finally here.

::deep sigh of relief::

I can’t even tell you how much I wanted to meet with Angie. We talked and plotted it out for the longest time, dreaming of the day we’d be able to meet up. While G-man was in Y Country in January, he told me to look into another island to visit when I came out. Of course my first thought was Maui.
1. because we still hadn’t been and I was dying to see it, and
2. because obviously Angie was there!

I immediately emailed Angie for all the details on Maui so I could make it extra glamorous for G-man. We were so excited! (Angie and me, that is) And then my Dad had the heart attack and everything was up in the air. Instead of me flying to HI, G-man was about to fly to CA to be with me, but Dad got better, and away I went.

{I realize that sounds rather flippant but I assure you, it was not}

As you know, we booked the trip and within 4 hours were on a plane heading to Maui and I was thrilled to know I’d see Angie soon.

If you don’t know her, she’s the sweetest kindest person you’ll ever meet. And so darn cute, to boot.

On Friday night, we hopped in the car and our driver {yes! we had a driver} took us to the restaurant where we all were going to meet up. G-man was nervous. Seeing how he doesn’t blog, doesn’t go on blogger dates and is really rather shy, he was a little uncertain about it all and being included. But I just kept reassuring him as best I could. ‘Its Angie! Everything will be okay!!’

We had such a great dinner. The guys talked while us girls talked and it was so nice getting to know Angie personally. She’s definitely someone to get to know. And truth be told, Angie is the only blogger that has seen G-man’s face. She felt honored. haha

I think the next time we get together, we should shoot for a quiet place where I won’t have to talk above music because apparently, I’m not good at the ‘quiet voice’ and I’m sure the whole restaurant didn’t want to hear me talk about prison and inmates. what really? people don’t want to hear about that stuff?? **batting eyelashes* *whoopsee**

Thanks so much to Angie and Phil for taking time out of their day and driving all the way over to us to have dinner. You both are the best.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!! What’s there to do now that football is OFFICIALLY over (praise the Lord) *cough* did I just say that?? *cough cough*

Angie blogged about our blate too, if you wanted to see her side of it.
Happy Friday!

Pin It Now!

Whales whales everywhere

Waking up at 4:30 in the morning is not an easy thing to do. Especially when you’re on vacation. But I drug myself out of bed to get ready because we had us some whales to see and nothing was going to stop us from that!

I threw on my jeans because, even though its HI, I still get cold..much to G-man’s teasing. The valet gave us bottled water and towels and had our jeep waiting for us as we came outside. I couldn’t believe how windy it was. I was secretly getting nervous I’d get seasick on the boat since I now get carsick and airsick {is it called ‘airsick’?? …my mind has gone blank}

We finally arrive to a huddle of people in the pitch black morning waiting to hear the instructions and board the boat. As we all shuffle forward, I’m getting anxious to get going and was finding myself getting annoyed by the slow walkers in front of us. {as if the 2 extra minutes will really make a difference}

We’re finally out to sea and within 30 minutes the sun begins to rise, painting the sky a beautiful shade of pink.


As the sun kept rising, I was finally able to take pictures of the whales that were close by. 2 in particular hovered near our boat, circling for a long time before moving on. It was beautiful. Everything about these whales are beautiful. To be so close was such a wonderful experience.


We kept willing them to breach the water but none seemed in the mood to play, but we were in awe of their size, their sounds…everything about them.


As we neared the end of our cruise, we began to head back to the dock. Everyone began to relax and not look around so eagerly for whales. This little boy seemed utterly content resting on the rail, staring out at the water.

Far out in the distance, the whales were still popping up and diving back under.


One waved goodbye to us with his fin.


It was a beautiful morning. Despite the wind, I thankfully never got sick. It started out with us wrapped in the towels to stay warm to me non stop taking pictures, craning my neck to see every angle so I wouldn’t miss anything, to feeling the warm sun soak into my skin.


I would go on a whale watching cruise every day if I could. G-man and I can’t seem to get enough of them. Even being back “home” in Oahu, we still stare out the big windows in hopes of seeing the whales jump. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned, {naturally, the hard way} its that a camera isn’t necessary to capture every single thing.

Running for my camera since the whales were beginning to jump close by, I ended up missing one whale jump and flip out of the water, only to have it never jump again that day. {I’m told it was spectacular} Sometimes, its best to just be there in the moment and not always feel the camera is necessary.

Lesson learned.

Pin It Now!

Pampering in Maui

I learned something about myself on our trip to Maui. I don’t think I realized it until G-man pointed it out, {while laughing, mind you}, as we were being taken to our hotel from the airport.

When I’m excited about something..or going somewhere, I apparently point out every little thing as if it’s the neatest thing ever.

For instance:
ooh, the speed limit is 45mph the whole way…gosh that would be hard.
do you see the tree over there..its pretty isn’t it?
look at that store..that should be fun to visit.
oh look! an outback AND a red robin..who knew??!
look over there..did you see that…oh oh what’s that…

And apparently, he finds this rather funny. But he knows I’m very excited about our trip when I do that, thus it doesn’t bother him and just makes him happy because clearly I’m happy.

{can I just say how hard it was to keep quiet once I knew I did this? literally biting on my tongue!}

When we booked the Four Seasons, we had the expectation of the Hilton on Kona, on our last trip, so we weren’t thinking too much of it. We packed extremely casually, just about no nice clothes, and had no intention of ‘snazzing up’. It was going to be a 100% relaxation trip.

Upon arrival, the valet opens our door and the greeter gives us a lei. They whisk our bags away and the greeter escorts us to the front desk to check in. She asks if we’d like a ‘welcome drink’ and darn if we were going to refuse.

::Mint ginger lemonade with a skewered pineapple::

Our eyes were bulging at this treatment and I have no doubt that even though we were acting like it was no big deal, our faces showed otherwise.

The man checking us in; hands us wet towels to clean our hands, gives us a list of complementary activities while the live band entertains the cocktail lounge behind us. The bellman escorted us to our room, where he proceeded to give us a tour of the entire room and all its functions. From bathroom, to personalized mini bar, to television, to the hotels information book.

Once he left, we stared at each other in amazement and rushed over to the welcome plate of assorted cookies, talking about the beauty of the hotel.

We made reservations at Duo and started our way downstairs. Men and women were impeccably dressed. Dresses, designer outfits, heels, hardly anyone was in ‘casual clothes’. I immediately began to feel self conscious, thinking I underdressed.

Once we’re seated, the server comes over and greets us by our names. ‘Mr…and Ms…how are you this evening??’ He asked if I wanted a drink and I casually mentioned I was considering a warm one when he asked if I was cold. {we were sitting outside} I said I was and he offered to bring me a shawl. a shawl!! Which he draped over my shoulders.

The food was some of the best we’d ever had and the service was phenomenal. He ended the dinner by bringing us a plate full of cotton candy and wet towels to clean our hands with. It didn’t matter I was full, I ate that cotton candy like it was the last food on earth.

As we took our walk back to our room, we began to realize the Four Seasons wasn’t anything like the Hilton. We didn’t know how much just yet but had a feeling we were about to find out real soon.


But first thing we needed to do was get some sleep. We had a 6:30am whale watching cruise to make and did not want to miss it.

Pin It Now!