One Whole Year!

It's hard to believe that we have now been living in Hawaii for over a year.  Blake hit one year on May 7th and I did on June 10th.  Here are some of the highlights (and not-so-high-lights) of our first year in Hawaii!

I flew on 16 different airplanes, one of which I got to fly in first class (first and probably only time) thanks to my awesome boss!  Needless to say, I am getting really sick of air travel.

Not one of my airplanes, but I wish it was.

Blake and I spent about 11 weeks apart. :(

Reunion at the airport after 5 weeks apart.  It will not let me rotate this....

I got to live in a new culture and learn words like da kine, slippaz, and howzit.  I think living in a culture somewhat different than the one you are used to is a fantastic experience and everyone should do it.

These are slippaz.

 Visited at least 20 different beaches.

Electric beach!

Had my first Christmas away from family.  It was kind of awful.  The only thing that made it okay was that the weather made it not feel like Christmas at all, so it didn't seem so sad to spend it alone.

Sad tiny Christmas tree.

Worked our tails off starting up and running the Tram at Hanauma Bay, which hit it's one year mark on June 15th.  Blake has put so much blood, sweat, and tears into this company.  I am so proud of his hard work and complete dedication to running the tram.  He really does not get enough credit for everything he does.

But sometimes we have fun at work too.

We raised a chicken from a baby chick to a full grown rooster.

His name is Chicken Nugget.

Grew to hate Utah for it's lack of ocean and it's five month winter.  Then decided it's alright because it really does have it's own kind of beauty, plus I really love the people I left behind there.

Just a few examples.  There are way more people that I love in Utah, don't be offended if your picture isn't here.

 Learned why people fall in love with the ocean and yearn for it the rest of their lives.

Rediscovered my love of hiking with at least 15 (and counting) different incredibly beautiful hikes, many of which we have hiked several times.

What could be better than a hike that gets you a view like this?

Got to see Steve McGarrett filming Hawaii Five-O.

Learned that the drive to the Bountiful temple wasn't actually that bad after all.

1.5 hrs, if you don't hit traffic.  Good luck.

Discovered that fancy cars probably wouldn't be worth the money for me at least.  Although I admit that might depend on the specific car.

I like the Mercedes a lot more than the Hummer though.

Found love for all of the wildlife here.  Except the mongoose.

I especially love the lizards/geckos, birds, and sea life!  Okay, I admit it, that's most of everything that lives here...

To sum it all up....

They were right, this really is paradise.