Oahu, Hawaii

Well we went and already came back...sniff sniff.

It was a great, much needed vacation with my lover and so great to see Bob and Mona!

I wish I could say that I am not lame and wasn't cold a lot of the time, but that's me, I guess anyways. With the weather at a steady 80 degrees, one would think I was crazy to be seen in my jacket most of the time. In my defense, it was windy?? Anyways, we had a great time and took a different approach to our vacation this time. NO SCHEDULED events or tours or gigs or whatever. Just relaxing. We spent more time at the beach, just laying there (thanks for being a good sport TJ). We saved ourselves a lot of money that way and were able to just take it easy. Oahu was amazing but I still favor Kauai.

 While there I helped Mona make some candy lei's for graduating students from BYU.

 I hate to say it but this much anticipated trip didn't start out so hot, for me that is. On the first day that I went to put on my swimsuit, my board shorts did NOT fit. Not even the bigger sized ones that I packed for later in the week knowing I would gain a few lbs. I just lost it in the bathroom while TJ patiently waited for me in the living room. I was mad and frustrated that here I was in beautiful Hawaii with my husband and NONE of the clothes I had packed (that all fit a few days earlier, remember I am pregnant, with a lot of hormones) fit and I sat there in the bathroom and cried. Feeling mad that I no longer had control over the changes in my body and I just felt awful and like a beached whale. I put myself back together and walked out and calmly said, "We need to go shopping". TJ being the sweet man that he is didn't asked questions and took me everywhere and was willing to pay WHATEVER to get me out of the dumps. I finally found some shorts and TJ even threw in this sweet hat (above) that I really love. I tried to put all of this on the back burner and be ok because last thing I wanted was to ruin this trip. Especially for TJ who I know hates it when I talk about things like this.

 Here is the ocean view right off from Bob and Mona live. Everyday they sit and look for turtles, we saw a few while we were there.

 We rented a kayak one day and went up the river and then out into the ocean. 

 We did some beautiful hikes that each led to a waterfall and swimming hole. The water was of course freezing and not enticing but TJ got the best of me and made me get in. Good thing he did too. It was neat to see all of the different landscapes throughout the hikes. Once we were in a patch of pine trees. In Hawaii you say? The one hike that we both wanted to do so bad was called "Stairway to Heaven". It's a staircase up the side of the mountain that involves over 3,000 steps. However it is off limits and the only way to hike it without being caught by the man who stands guard is to go at one in the AM. I'm not that crazy. I love to sleep.

 Turtles at Turtle Bay

Snorkeling at Sharks Cove

 We were able to meet up with Heather Soules one night for the night show at the PCC. I love her!

 What can we say? If you're going to hike, hike dirty and become one with the earth.

 The most beautiful cemetery ever! 

 We spent a lot of time on this deck, eating, talking, reading or just watching the waves.

We went out to eat A LOT and all of it was super good and we brought back some cool souvenirs. I had to be careful around Mona and not mention things that I liked because she wanted to buy it all. While the time was great I found myself missing the girls a lot and wanting to be with them. So yes it was good to come back home. Not the way we did however with taking the red eye flight. Where did that night even go?