Our First Year

Le hubby and I celebrated our first anniversary together while we were in Hawaii (way to kill two birds with one stone right? Christmas and anniversary? check!) It's crazy to think it's been a full year. And yes everyone says it, but the time really does fly. Maybe not while you're in the moment, but looking back it's hard to imagine all the little moments that made up the days, so it seems like the year has been shorter than you remember.
Honestly? The first year of marriage had so many great things, but it also had hard things too. Learning to communicate with someone who you care for so much can be difficult. Sometimes your feelings for them cloud what you are really trying to say; sometimes your feelings block your ears too (guilty!) Despite those hard times though, we both found comfort in knowing that we were there for each other. We just knew that, deep down in the essence of our beings. I think that fact, that peace of knowing you'll never have to battle life alone, is the most beautiful realization I have had this year and we look forward to winning our battles together.

Christmas in Hawaii -- pt. 1

Hi everyone!
We've been very MIA this past month. Between end-of-year projects, papers, finals, packing and vacationing... there was just no time to post! But here we are again :)
For Christmas this year my parents got to cross off something on their bucket list... we went to Hawaii! They've been wanting to do this for a long time and this year the stars aligned. We stayed on Maui, which was actually really nice because it's a lot more laid back than Oahu or the Big Island.

SO if you're going to Maui anytime soon, here's what we'd recommend:

• snorkeling - seriously, do it. There are a TON of beaches (obviously) and most of them are good for snorkeling. Our favorites included Kamole III and Ulua, although we saw a lot of things at various other beaches too. 
• scuba diving - Kyle and I got scuba certified before we went, so we got to dive with my dad three times. We really wanted to dive at the 5 tombs, but the water was pretty choppy and it was a rocky entrance, so we played it safe and didn't do that. However, the three beaches we did go to were amazing. Diving is just unreal in general; so peaceful and quite, not to mention beautiful. 
• Molikini Crater - About a mile out from Maui there's a crater that's really popular for snorkeling. We took a boat out there to see it all, and we also went to "Turtle Town" - just an area that had a lot of turtles. I didn't end up snorkeling very long at Molikini because I got too cold, but what I did see was amazing. (Honestly though, you can see most of the same fish just by snorkeling at other beaches... so you don't HAVE to go to Molikini...) 
• Maui Tacos - it isn't a true vacation unless we find a good restaurant. We ended up going here twice for their fish tacos (amazing!) 
• Cafe O'Lei - again more food. This is where Kyle and I spent our anniversary dinner. Since everything in Hawaii is more expensive than the mainland, we were pretty impressed for the amount of food that we got for $65. Salad, crab cakes, a sushi roll, and two AMAZING entrees. Plus our server, Tim, was awesome. 
• Historic district in Lahaina - very cool old shops, a lot to see (aka spend money on) but the history of the place was very fascinating too. 
• Just up north of Lahaina there's a golf course with access to a crazy place called Dragon's Tooth - When the island was forming, the lava hit the ocean and solidified into teeth-like looking rocks. We visited this place for our anniversary too. 
• Grand Wailea Luau - We did this for Christmas Eve and it was a blast! They go through the history of Hawaii through dance. The dancers were incredible (they had some Cirque de Soliel performers!) and the food was amazing. 
• Road to Hana - Also known as road to hell (or as my sister quoted, "Highway to Hell"). It was NOT as bad as people made it out to be. I loved it. The town of Hana is the most remote town in all of Hawaii but the point of driving to it is to enjoy the journey there. Along the way there are TONS of waterfalls, beaches (black and red), and other stops. We spent a good portion of our drive hiking along waterfalls and just taking pictures. The majority of the road is through the lush, tropical forest. Seeing this was awesome; HUGE forests of bamboo, rainbow eucalyptus and kukui trees... unbelievable. 
• Kahekili Highway - This was WAY worse than the Road to Hana. This "highway" is a single lane that takes you around the north ear of Maui. Sheer cliff faces, and spectacular views, what's more to want? This highway took us to Kahakuloa, the oldest village in Maui. It hasn't changed AT ALL in over a hundred years, except for a new building they've been working on in the last decade. Here we met Lorraine who showed us her backyard of wonders and sold us her homemade passion fruit jelly. It was amazing. Kyle sampled one of her chilies- her HOT HAWAIIAN CHILIES- and started crying. This highway also took us to a cool blow hole that you could hike to. It's a pretty easy hike, but the blow hole can be dangerous as it's right by the ocean. Apparently there have been cases of people getting too close to it, and being sucked in by the pressure of it (we didn't get THAT close...) 
• Maui Ocean Aquarium - To get our fill of ALL the animals we couldn't see snorkeling/scuba diving, we went to the Aquarium on Christmas day. Here we were finally able to see some sharks and sting rays! They had a cool tube you could walk through that had all the sharks and rays swimming above, below and around you. 

We did a ton of other things too, but these were some of the highlights. It was really nice to just spend time together as a family. Even without the snow and cold, Christmas tree and lights we still had a blast! Best. Christmas. Ever.

He's taken.

BABE

Ethan's mad jumping skills

The blow hole

Sorry for the noise! It was REALLY windy!

I'll be making more posts that go in more detail later this week!

Awkward and Awesome

Today was a Murphy's Law kind of day; everything that can go wrong, went wrong. I woke up late, didn't get a lot of work done, lost my flash drive that had a semester's worth of computer programming that I needed, couldn't buy ham at Costco so my ham and cheese bagel became a cheese bagel, was late for my noon class, didn't understand a word of it, deleted my group project's program syntax, bruised myself WAY too much during vball, then spent another 4 hours on a stupid homework assignment, and almost lost $200 meant for a friend.
BUT I have survived today. I found my flash drive, won my volleyball match, recovered the deleted syntax, turned in that blankity-blank-blank assignment and found the $200.

Take that universe.

Awesome:

• Being friendly with restaurant workers - free drinks? Ok! 
• Watching the men's volleyball team practice. No, that's not creepy... 
• The Office. We're currently on season 5 and we started 2 weeks ago. Don't judge 
• Finally understanding computer programming enough to help other people 
• Meeting my first niece! Little Audrey is adorable! 
• Tanning. I don't care what anyone says, sometimes the tanning bed is just the perfect answer. Those UV rays can help a woman out! 
• I'm can almost see the end of this semester 
• Being assigned to the number one team in my vball class 
• My Prof saying, "I think I'm actually going to re-write the final to make it a little easier. Any objections?" (No objections were made manifest btw) 
• That same professor deciding to write my computer code for me - THANK YOU! 
• THIS - I seriously can't stop laughing! 
• and THIS - so true... it's almost not funny. 

Awkward:

• "So when are you guys going to have kids?" .... we don't know. And why would we tell you if we did??? 
• Saying a different name when someone asks what my name is. "May I ask who's calling?" "Oh yeah, my name is Liz... wait, what?!" 
• Having to explain what a HOME BIRTH is 
• When people ask if I'm feeling alright because I look a little... off. Sometimes I don't have time to do my hair ok? 
• Watching someone trying to flirt when it's obviously not working. It's kinda like watching a car crash; you really can't just look away 
• Accidently revealing how much of a creeper I am on facebook 
• When the person next to you farts pretty noticeably. What's the proper protocol for that anyone know? 
• Still not knowing how to pronounce my group member's name, and it's the end of the semester 
• Having to turn down "dates" because they didn't look at the hand close enough. So, wanna grab a bite to eat later? I know this great restaurant..." "Oh yeah, my husband and I LOVE that place!" *Cue the reddest face I've ever seen. "Oh you're married? So.... um... how's that going for you...?" 

Needless to say, it's been a fantastic week and this has become my new mantra

School tomorrow is optional right?

My reaction to school starting tomorrow:






and this:

Just two more weeks... two more INSANE weeks...

Beautiful

The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths.

These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. 

Beautiful people do not just happen."

- Elizabeth Kubler Ros

Awkward and Awesome

I haven't done this in a while... but I've had just too many awkward experiences to pass this up.
Awesome:

• Husband getting a 94 on an econ test. I married a genius. 
• 10 VOB's completed in one day. That's a work thing... and it's mostly just awesome for myself. 
• Hawaii in a month; HOLLAH 
• The sweet pancake (look at 0:07) I did in my vball class last week. 
• Shooting my finger gun at annoying drivers, and having the person next to me at the intersection start laughing. 
• Free Starbucks for voting 
• $2 burritos at Chipotles for dressing up in our Halloween costumes. 
• $11 for two movie tickets to see Skyfall. I love living in a college town. 
• THE ELECTIONS ARE OVER. 

Awkward:

• Waiting in line at the testing center and having a group of baseball jocks come in behind you. Because of your position, they can't see your ring... and thus the flirting commences. Once the ring is spotted you hear an, "ohh CRAP!" and then, all flirting ceases. (thanks, it's not like I CAN'T hear you...) 
• Saying in class, "last night we watched What to Expect When You're Expecting.... NOT that we're expecting," and the guy behind you yells "yeah, we've heard THAT before..." *cue entire class laughs *cue my red face. 
• Public bathrooms. The awkward just never ends. 
• Smiling, while trying to drink from my Camelback (it's just so cute having water gush out of your mouth) 
• THESE. I just can't handle them! 
• Not knowing if someone is dressed up for Halloween, or just acutely unaware of how they look. 
• Never wearing my ring in volleyball class (because it hurts to play with it on) and thus being forced to navigate the flirting/friendly zone. 
• A guy running to grab a ball that had bounced against me, and grabbing my butt instead of the ball. Cool beans bro. 
• The insurance rep catching me eating while I was on hold, then asking what I'm eating. "Umm... oh, just a bag of chocolate chips..." To which he responds, "well, that's not very healthy." Yes, I know it isn't. That's why YOU are working at a HEALTH insurance company, not me.

Halloween

This Halloween we had a party. We also got $2 Chipotles burritos because we went in our costumes. Between that and a HUGE bag of candy from Costco... I may never need to eat again.

Who am I kidding, I'm off to finish that bag....

Roxanne Ritchie and Megamind

Nerds in Nerds

Kari the babysitter (from the Incredibles) and Captain America

The cutest Mexican ever