[hawaii]

I just got back from Hawaii. I should've just blogged everyday while in Hawaii, that way this post wouldn't be so dang long. But oh well.... here it is, enjoy it or get off... lol

Tuesday, March 8

Woke up at 4am and packed because I don’t ever pack before the day of my flight.  

 Landed in LA.

Had some delicious spicy shrimp fajita on the boardwalk at Redondo Beach.

Big Ups to Dave Selu for spoiling me and tini.....he must be a Carson boy. ;)

Cruised…

Got my nails done. 

Checked in at the beautiful Los Angeles airport Marriott, which happens to be one of my favorites. Went downstairs to the restaurant where some Marine recruiter bought Tini and I shots of Patron that we ended up giving away. After about two hours of talking and him asking so many questions about the church he ended up paying for our bill that night. Tini and I scored big time our first day because we didn't spend a penny on anything.

Got me some shut eye.

Wednesday, March 9

Woke up again at 4am to catch our flight to Honolulu, and for the first time in L.A. check in and security went so smooth and so fast. Boarded. Had a whole row to myself in coach (most time to Hawaii I’d much rather have a whole row than first class that way I can catch up on sleep.) Landed in Hawaii’s 77 degree weather. =) =) =) =). Checked in at the hotel and picked up rental. Visited grandma in Waipio. Cruised…. Ate at Kim Chee.

Now...something funny about me is depending on what my first meal is wherever I'm at determines how well my trip will be. Well, after eating at Kim Chees I knew for sure my trip would be very fulfilling and veeery enjoyable. Thanks Kim Chee for being so delicious. After forcing myself to feel fat we just cruised…..
 Headed back to the hotel at about 11p and ran over some music with dad. Woke up the rest of  our party and walked to Byrons Drive Inn at about midnight for Loco Mocos and slush floats...and knocked out.

Thursday, March 10

First day of vacation officially  started because I got to sleep in. Walked to Byrons for breakfast. Checked out and headed to the North Shore. 

 Checked in at Turtle Bay Resort. 

Slipped on bikini (even though I’m not fully in bikini body mode lol) and swam. 

Cruised… and enjoyed every scene

Looks like a postcard huh? Well, it's not, it's actually right outside the lobby.

Enjoyed Papa Oles garlic chicken and ran into old friends there. 

While at Papa Ole’s we heard about the tsunami watch over Hawaii, from the results of Japans 8.9 earth quake. Didn’t think too much of it until we passed Chevron and the line for gas was backed up about 15 cars at every pump awaiting their turn to fill up. =/ It was then that I started to really think if I should worry or not. I was calm for a second when one of my friends text me and told me it’s just a watch and not to worry, if it was serious they’d be evacuating people. I was calm now. After about 5 minutes my phone rings and it’s my mom (who happened to be a family meeting for the wedding the following day) telling me that my father said to gather the girls and pack an over night bag because we were heading into town for the night. Okay…..I was freaked and came to conclusion that it was okay to PANIC now. Lol… I got to the hotel and asked them about it, the lady at the front desk told us that if we were on the 3rd floor we would be fine and that Turtle Bay was actually a safe spot for tsunamis. Seriously…right there where my room is overlooking the ocean??? Lol.. 

Well after going back to our room and trynna keep calm I began to pack anyway. My sister Frankie kept asking why we were packing up, no one else was going, why is it just us. I then told her that I don’t know why we seem to be the only family heading out inland when Turtle Bays a “safe spot” but I am not going to question the priesthood of our family. We packed and as we (me, Frankie, and Pili) were waiting for the elevator, it opened up and my mom walked out. Confused we just followed her back to our room asking her what was going on. We got in our room and she suggested that we say a prayer. After prayer we had the impression to just leave. Met up my aunt and her girls who were also staying at Turtle Bay and left to Pearl City to my aunts house.  

Although I knew we would’ve been safe back at Turtle Bay, I was happy to be in Pearl City…just with that impression that came after prayer and my dad tellling us to pack up and leave, it felt right. We had a little slumber party at Aunty Osos with all us girls. I tried to stay up til 3:15am (that’s what time the tsunami was suppose to hit). But I crashed before 1am. Haha… As frightened as I was, I was glad that Shawn had stayed on the phone with me aaaaalll night. Every time I’d wake up in the middle of the night he was on and actually awake making sure I was okay. Haha… funny stuff. 

I’ve never been in that situation. For me, normally it’s a bad snow storm, but even those don’t get too bad in Utah. This time, was different. Water freaks me out because

1.) I suck at swimming 

2.) the impact and effects of the tsunami would do major damage.

And being on standby would not help, I'd probably get fired if I got stuck in Hawaii. Then I'd be jobless

and miserable.

And

3.) Ane’s wedding was the next day. If the tsunami would’ve hit that would’ve postponed and basically screwed up a lot of plans. 

It would’ve been neat to see something and to actually be there in the moment, but I’d much rather be safe than sorry. Haha… All in all, it was a pretty cool/frightening experience I don’t ever want to experience again. ;)

Friday, March 11th

We woke up and headed back to Laie asap to help out the bridesmaids with hair. Afterwards, those that could attend the sealing went to the temple and those that didn’t stayed back at the hotel. The day was beeeeautiful. It was like nothing happened the day before. Perfect day for Ane and Marcus’ wedding. 

The location of the wedding reception was very fitting for the occasion. 

Ane was a beautiful bride…very simple and elegant.

Marcus was just smiles all night. The couple was so adorable. There’s always a feeling of fulfillment when it comes to temple marriages, and I absolutely love it. Just the feeling and knowledge of knowing that this happy couple will be together for eternity is phenomenal. Knowing that all vows taken don’t just end when they die is so comforting. I love that with the gospel there is hope after death, and to spend it with the one person that you love and they mirror the same feelings is breath taking when I think about it. 

It truly is something to celebrate as big as we did. =) I love my family, they’re amazing. (I swear I’ve mentioned that in so many of my blogs haha). I got to see so many people I haven’t seen in months and years, it was great. 

I even got to see Leeks and Noke, =) =) [ <--notice the double smiley face?? That’s how excited I was lol]  who happened to be the reason I was here last year around the same time…..enjoying myself at their wedding, that also happened to be a temple marriage as well!!! 

The night ended beautifully……..I crashed.

Saturday, March 12th

Woke up…smelled the Kona Coffee… lol. Headed to Hukilau Café to have breakfast with my Aunty Yvonne and her daughters. Grubbed on the Hungry Hawaiian like I was really a hungry Hawaiian. ;)
Walked the streets of Laie like I was a local. Haha.. Visited the Galea’is. Stopped and supported the Fotu Family fundraiser they held in behalf of their Utah trip for Nais grad. Went back to the hotel and spent most of the day in the sun getting black….not tanned. Tanned was the first two days…I was now getting black/burnt. But did I care??? NOPE. In and out of the pool sipping on VIRGIN Lava Flows and eating Turtle Bays $12 chicken strips and $16 cheese burger wondering why Turtle Bay can’t have a dollar menu. Haha… After about 4 hours at the pool (YES the pool. I know, who goes to Hawaii to swim at the pool???) Tini and I did some laundry and had our own Fruit Ninja Tournament. We then hit up PCC’s night show, HA. I’ve seen the show a number of times, but every time I watch it, I fall in love with it again. Such a great story line. The music and dancers do awesome every time. YAY for HA. After that we headed to town to watch my dad’s band perform at some Samoan Night Club. Lol. It was seriously a laughing out loud night. All the drunk fobs dancing around got pretty entertaining. Hahahaha…Said my prayer and called it a night.


Sunday, March 13th

I didn’t get to sleep in but that was fine, I got tonz done. I woke up at 5am and headed to town to the swap meet with the girls. Every time I go back to the swap meet now, I realize that everything there is sooooo ‘junk’. Very touristy… but it was nice to walk around and pick up some earrings, seis, and a phone cover. I even got to play with some pretty big FAKE diamonds...haha

Stopped for Malasadas at Leonards for the 3rd time this trip. 

Ugh….carb overloads are sooooo not healthy, but soooooo good. :-/ We then got back and Tini and I took Pili to the beach, finally. It was so much fun being at risk of skin cancer ;) lol… 

We didn’t stay long because we had tona’i with the Mapu family at Kualoa Park. There was so much good food and drinks. I took the kids down to the beach for a little. 

Even the newlyweds joined us

Reunited with Livs and it feels soooo good!!

Sweet Daniel w/Uncle Simi and Aunty Ann

Later that night I met up with some of my cousins and we hit the city. Cheesecake Factory was delish as always. Checked out the Shack and Red Lion while in Waikiki, and just chilled the remainder of the night and learned a lot of things about someone. LOL. It was fun…..but I think I’m going to hell for spending my Sunday that way, minus the family time. =( Next time, I’ll be in the first row at church…

Monday, March 14th
Slept in…. finally. Checked out [insert SAD face…just knowing my vaca is coming to an end]. Headed to the Ah You drive inn across from Kahuku, next to Superette. Had some ono plate lunches. Uuughhh…. I LOVE THE AH YOU FAMILY!!! Shout out to Uncle Junior and Myra for being a few of my favorite people in the world. =)
Stopped at the fruit stand. Stopped at another fruit stand and bought what seemed like a million pairs of earrings. Headed to town and visited with grandma lusi again. I got some good quality slash shopping slash therapy with my girl Mele. I’m so lucky that this week happens to be spring break so instead of her going to do her internship I got some QT with her. It was great to catch up with everything and just laugh about everything. I had some honey toast for the first time and now it’s my favorite thing to eat in Hawaii. Thanks Mele…see you soon?? YES OF COURSE!!
Got home…and craaashed.



Tuesday, March 15th

I was dancing in a club to Bottoms Up and after bumping into my enemy I awoke only to realize that it was just my alarm clock waking me up at 4am. Not cool. Haha…. Stopped at Longs to pick up some last minute goodies for my boss and the girls that I visit teach. Headed to the airport. Hawaii agriculture, check in, aaand security seriously are a joke. They are slow at everything, I swear. Maybe they’re under staffed…or maybe they’re just on  furlow Tuesday??? Lol j/k..
flying with Pili today reminded me of why I love traveling alone. Haha… I know it’s not his fault that he’s 3 years old and that he has the largest imaginiation ever. He’s like a little 60 lb sponge that soaks up everything he hears and sees. His curiosity is seriously draining, but I love it at the same time because he’s so entertaining. Lol… I don’t know how my mother and Lusi manage to keep this kid in control. But they do…and I commend them both for that. We were in air all day long. Glad that we made our connections and made it home safe. I was so happy to see the rest of my family. I missed them a lot this trip. Good thing we’re all heading back out to Hawaii for my brother Franks homecoming. Can’t wait….
All in all, this trip has been such an eye opener. We were very blessed to get good deals on car rentals (thanks Ana), 3 different hotels (thanks Pou, Uncle John, and Ano), PCC tickets (thanks Aunty Sally and Tagi for treats), some good grub (thanks Ah You family), and most of all a great time in beautiful Hawaii nei (THANKS 808 MAPU FAM  BAM).  I don’t know why God is so good to me even with all my flaws. He continues to love me and bless me by always allowing me to take a step back and taking a second look at the big picture. Making me realize who really is important and worth keeping around in my life. Like I said before in prior blogs….. One of the reasons traveling has become one of my most favorite things to do is because I always get the chance to go out into the world and see what God has created. And when I experience or see new things or things that help remind me of what God has created, I am grateful. I am grateful for everything I have in my life. My life…and those still in it. I truly am blessed. =)