Seb and Kristine

Last night was the Heather, Seb, and Kristine reunion.  It was so awesome to catch up and have some fun.  We met them at Kona Burger - wings, burgers, and crab legs were hammered down along with some Mai Thais.  Then we met up with Seb and Kristine's friends Niki and Cyrus for a rather entertaining show over on Kuhio.  Josh and I were up early this morning to meet up with the group who went skydiving.  I came back to the hotel and slept but Josh, thank god, had a successful jump and will be heading back soon.  Tonight we will celebrate at the Aloha Tower with Heather Reed and a few others.  HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Seb making fun of my picture taking pose

My Hawaiian Return

View from balcony

Airport Welcome

I'm back!  I never thought I would be back so soon if at all, I feel very lucky to have the opportunity.  It didn't surprise me when I immediately felt back at home here.  Such a beautiful place.  I landed yesterday around 2:30 to have Heather Reed's beautiful smile awaiting me.  I checked in at the Embassy Suites and waited for Josh Osborne who was landing two hours after me.  We hit up the free happy hour with a few malibu rum and pineapples and waited for Heather to get back here.  All I wanted for dinner was some Korean meat which I was able to find at the Yardhouse.  It was a great dinner with some newfound friends and old friends as well.  After dinner we headed across the street to Coconut Willies where the evening came to a quick end for me after a shot of Jager was purchased for me from one of our new British friends.  I just came in from laying in the sun with a view of Diamond Head and somebody playing the ukelele right next to me.  Now back in the room and waiting to hear from Seb and Kristine to meet them at the Shack for some wings and beers.  It will be an early night since we will be taking off for the North Shore early tomorrow morning.  I will be the photographer for Josh as he jumps out of a plane tomorrow morning!  Aloha!

Mahalo Hawaii

I've been back to Chicago now for 3 weeks and have missed Hawaii very much.  It will always be a place that I will hold very dear to my heart and hope I will get the chance to enjoy it there again in my lifetime.  I gained some unbelievable friendships while there and will never forget how gracious they were to take us all in.  The memories I have from my time spent on the island will be some of the memories I will cherish most in my life I am sure.  From the people, to the culture, to the spirit of the land it was exactly what I needed to get me back on track in life and made me realize just how lucky we all are to have the opportunity to have this journey we call life.  It taught me to once again appreciate, laugh, love, and embrace everything that comes your way.  Mahalo Hawaii for opening my eyes again. 

Videos!

Hawaii Home on the Hill

Pro Bowl

Sunset/Booze Cruise

Chinamen's Hat - Drive to the north

Sandy's Beach

Byodo Temple

Waimea Bay

The Countdown Has Begun!

With only two weekends left of my Hawaiian life I am desperate to pack as much as possible in.  We had a full house over the weekend with two friends of Jenn's, three friends of Em's, and two friends of Tim's.  Gladly, we escaped the weekend with everyone getting along and a lot of fun was had.  Friday night was pretty relaxed.  Tim threw both Kelli and I in the pool and then sadly, Kel fell and gashed her knee open.  She is on the mend though and ready to hang out with me tomorrow on our day off!  Saturday I hung out at the house soaking up the sun, swimming in the pool, and cooking while each of the groups were out in the island hanging out.  They all got back to the house around 1 and we fired up the grill to eat before heading down to Waikiki for their famous booze cruise.  Everybody was a little shocked that Jenn and I had not done it yet.  It was amazing - the view of Waikiki from the water is unbelievable and we were able to spot some whales as well.  Afterward, we headed to Dukes to partake in some of their famous Mai Thais.  It was a riot for all.

Sunday was spent relaxing and preparing for the work week ahead but I was lucky enough on Tuesday to squeeze in with Em and her friends on a flight around the island.  He took us all over Oahu and then over to Molokai.  It was one of my most favorite things I have done here to date.  The island is just so beautiful.  He spotted some whales playing around in the water so flew down close to the water to check them out - of course I went crazy over it.  See captions below on all the things we were able to see.  We got to see all the sights while listening to Bruddah Iz :).

We caught a portion of the whale as he was going back into the water

Kaena Point (most western point of Ohau

Chinamen's Hat

Lepper Coloby on Molokai - 12 Leppers still love there!  Moloai is inhabitted by 6000 residence who all live off the agriculture the island brings in - pineapple and coffe.  They do not like white people much and are very protective of their land.  No resorts on the island and public beaches are for locals only - I wanna go!

Papaula Falls on Molokai.  This island bears the brunt of the ocean so the cliffs are staggering.  One waterfall plunges 2900 feet straight of the island and into the ocean.

molokai pali



Fell Behind! So Much Has Happened!

We have all settled into our new home pretty good and it's so nice to have someplace to call home until I head back to Chicago.  We spend our nights making dinner, hanging out by the pool, doing some work, and chilling.  When weekends come this place is the party pad and there is always at least one or two people sleeping over which is a ton of fun.  We've made some awesome dinners, played stupid games, looked at the stars, and drank a lot of wine :).  Last weekend was really packed.  Josh landed Thursday night and after I picked him up from the airport we headed back here to chill out and catch up on life.  Friday after work Josh came over while we made dinner and relaxed.  We went to bed fairly early since we were headed out to Maunawili Falls Trail in the morning.  After the hike we took off for downtown Waikiki.  Sunday was packed full of Super Bowl festivities at the house.  We had the set up for the tv's pretty good so we could watch it poolside or in the living room.  The chili cook off was pretty fun and I came in second place - only to lose to my boss which I guess is pretty par for the course :).  So the weekend countdown has begun and I'm having so many mixed feelings about my return.  I will so miss it here.

At the end of the hike there was a waterfall and watering hole where some of my friends jumped off (another) 50 foot cliff.  I opted for the much shorter 15 foot cliff - haha.  The scenery was of course unbelievable.  Most of the hike was pretty 'jungly' - climbing around trees, wading through water, climbing up hills, etc but it was all worth it.

James put on a pretty good spread of food for all of us when we returned from the hike.  Burgers, steak salad, veggies, and mojitos.  He is welcome to come here and cook any night - it tasted amazing.

After dinner Saturday night Jenn and I met Josh downtown Waikiki for some Mai Thais and good conversation.  What a day - I was exhausted by the time I got home and in bed.

The girls cooking for the Super Bowl visitors

CDM Gang watching the half time show

First Weekend in Hawaii House and Pro Bowl

It is so sad to know that my time here is coming to an end -only four weekends left.  Makes me so sad to think about it but just feel so blessed I've had this opportunity.  I not only have met some incredible people that will be lifelong friends but I have also learned so much professionally and experienced some amazing things.  We moved into our new home last Tuesday and I never want to leave it.  I could live on the front porch alone and be just fine with it!  Me, Jenn, Tim, and Emily are all now roomies.  Each of us with our own bedroom and bathroom with enough room for each of us to be in separate areas of the house and not see each other.  The view is amazing and the pool in the back is so fun.  We stayed in Friday night with a few friends over playing Tabu.  Saturday I spent the majority of the day going through the library of old books in the living room and reading them on the porch with my coffee and breakfast.  Jenn and I cooked dinner for everybody Saturday night and I seriously can't remember the last time I laughed so hard.  Sunday we headed out to the Aloha Stadium for tailgating and football!  We endured a rain storm but ended up having a great day.  Weekends here are so amazing.  Home - I will be there soon :(.

 Pasta, wine, and friends - some of my favorite things

 My ladies of the island!

 Ross & Jess

 Aloha Stadium

 Jenn's crazy KC fans



Sony Open

Last weekend the crew took it easy Friday night so we would be in rare form for the Sony Open at the Waimea Golf Course.  It was a beautiful day and the course was gorgeous.  Heather, Jenn, Em, Tim , and I met at the Duke statue at 11:30 to take the trolley down to the course.  We met a few of our co-workers who were following Justin Rose.  Apparently over the holiday break one of my co-workers was actually able to play golf with him while they were both in South Africa to be in a mutual friend's wedding.  Pretty cool.  I was able to see John Daley putt in while only being a few feet away.  The girls and I sat in the grass talking for a few hours then met our boss in the Grey Goose tent to wrap up the afternoon.  We headed back on the trolley to chill at Jenn's pool for a while then head to the country bar down the road.  Only to end the night with an Ono Cheesesteak - I really need to stop eating those! :)