Welcome to Paradise Cove!

Welcome to Paradise Cove!

Sorry it has took me this long to finally finish my Hawaii trip. So Saturday night we went to a Luau! It was really fun and bonus... Adam got us the military discount! Holla!

What was neat about this was it was the same luau that I went to about 15 years ago! It is still exactly the same. The costumes and everything... except when I was a kid I didn't get all the innuendoes. Adam, Laura and I had a great time. We came in and they had crafts out on the tables. The first thing we did was make a floral bracelet. Even Adam joined in on the fun!



Then Laura made a crown!



See so pretty!

While she was making this They guy with the seashell horn came and they did a fashion show right where we were. Really they just showed us how to tie a sarong different ways.



Here is Laura and I during the "fashion show!"



They did several other shows but I was waiting in line to get a polynesian tattoo... so I didn't get any pictures... i didn't end up getting the tattoo either... I know. bummer but the line was taking forever and I had to go. While I was waiting in line for this tattoo I did get to see the shower of flowers event! So this guy climbed the tallest palm tree on the paradise cove property... see







There he goes





a little further!



Well he made it! and now it was time for the shower of flowers!



Well we made our way to the table after some pretty pictures.....








Now it was time to eat and enjoy the show! The food was really good and the show was fun. Naturally I was taking pictures the whole time. They aren't the greatest of pictures but hey they work!

Here is the food!







Here is the cool fire guy!







So the trip is almost over... but this post is long enough! I will write in the next day or so finishing out my trip! Aloha

Sunsets and Views

Aloha!

So I have spent one full day in Hawaii so far. In case you didn't know I am on Oahu at Waikiki! I am 5 hours difference in time from Texas and the views here are AMAZING!!!

So because Adam and Laura are here for a month it was cheaper for them to get a condo than to pay for a hotel. Let me rephrase that.... it is cheaper for the Army to pay for a condo for the month than for them to pay for a hotel! The Army gave us a pretty sweet spot!

Well Adam just happened to find this amazing condo! It is right and I mean right smack dab on the beach! It is amazing. The condo doesn't have ac but it truly doesn't need it. They have this huge window that stays open 24/7 and fans going in the room. So needless to say I am going to miss the sound of the ocean all day long. It has been my favorite thing sitting in a chair right by the window just looking out. My bed is also right by the window so i get the best sounds of the waves. I don't mind waking up in the middle of the night hearing them!

Here is the view of the private beach for the condo.



I have been waking up between 5:15 and 5:30. It is really neat because when I wake up it is still dark outside but within a matter of 10 minutes everything becomes alive. Seriously. This morning at 530 it was just barely light enough to see and I saw the first surfer go out. Crazy. within a matter of minutes there were 8 of them out in the water right in front of the condo.

anyways... back to the topic at hand. Yesterday mid morning I looked out the window and this is what I saw!



It was a complete rainbow! such a sweet reminder of God's promise and I got to enjoy it because I was being still!

Here is another picture that I had from yesterday from my window! Laura and I were just talking about sailing and how we would love to go sailing sometime and I saw this really cool sailboat. it was picturesque.




Yesterday wasn't too eventful. We just hung out in the morning. Around noon I went down to the beach and stayed till about 3. (praise the Lord Laura had spf 70 because I would have FRIED if I wore the spf 30 i brought! ha) When we came back in we got ready and went on a long walk to a market that is a few miles down the road from our condo. It was HOT but fun seeing all the different things. We got back, cooled off, made dinner and then began to watch the A&E version of Pride and Prejudice. Since Adam was on call last night we made it a fun girls day!

About thirty minutes into the movie I began to notice some change outside and we paused the movie and grabbed our cameras! (Laura loves photography just as much as me) You ready to see this? I am going to show you a series of the pictures!

This was in the very beginning of the sunset. I thought this was gorgeous!



Wait it gets better. Same sunset.



During this whole time I am singing "sunrise, sunset" from fiddler on the roof and thinking how much Jess would love this. So I texted her a picture and then took this one!



Within a matter of 10 minutes the sun was gone. I will leave you with one last shot from the sunset!



Jess, I hope you enjoyed these pictures! :)

Aloha! Tomorrow I will post about Laura and my adventure we are taking today!

Hawaii: First Class Style

(does this picture make anyone else think of the Pixar short film with the clouds?)


ALOHA!!

Ok so my brother is in the Army right? He was given orders (by his request) to be stationed in Hawaii for a month so that he could do a rotation with orthopedics at Tripler Army Base. Rough life I know!

Anyways, Adam and Laura invited me to join them for a week in Honolulu for this occasion. I had a free place to stay and the flight would be easy to get thanks to me dad who travels every week. Needless to say I struggled deciding whether I would join them or not! :)

When my dad was booking the flight with his reward points the Lord did this really sweet and special thing. At the time he was booking the first class seats were worth less reward points then the coach class seats. So it was a better deal for my dad to get the first class tickets then the coach. Can you believe that? This is insane.

I have been really hesitant and almost ashamed to tell people where I was going and how I was getting there for a while. Well my flight left yesterday and can I tell you how spoiled first class flyers are? First off at check in I was helped immediately. My luggage got a priority sticker which means when I land it is one of the first suitcases to come out. I didn't have to wait in that awful long line for security because I was flying first class. I got to board the plane first. When I got to my seat this is what I saw.




I had my own nice pillow and sweet quilt. I had all the space I wanted. My chair FULLY reclined. I was overwhelmed. This was awesome! The flight attendant I met while I was waiting in the gate and she knew me by name the entire trip. It was pretty special. So right after I was seated they came around with beverages while we were waiting for everyone else to board and get situated. They also brought a menu of what we would be eating. Can I show you how awesome this was? prepare yourselves....



So we started off with mixed nuts and dried fruit. I know this is nothing really special but oh it was. It was warm and they tasted so good!



Next was a really good salad! They also gave me a glass of wine to go with the meal.



Then I had Salmon and asparagus. Now I normally don't gravitate towards seafood but I couldn't help myself. Why get pasta when you could enjoy something fancy and really this was a once in a lifetime thing. I may never get to do this again... so I went for the Salmon and it was AMAZING!!! Who new airplane food could taste so good!



To finish this meal off I had a hot fudge sunday and some coffee.

So what did I tell you? Pretty special huh? Oh wait.. but before we landed in hawaii I was given this..



Fruit and cheese and crackers! ha.

So my food was pretty neat! Did I mention that the seats fully recline? I have never slept better on a plane than I did on the way over here... and just in case you don't believe me I took a picture of the guy sitting next to me sleeping! haha. I know a little creepy but I wanted proof of how it actually reclines!




So that is my adventure thus far! I can't wait to enjoy the beach today. Mahalo ( thanks) for reading... until next time, Aloha!