Aloha 2012!

Alooooooooooooha! To start off the new year with a bang, Trent and I took a trip with our good pizza-loving friends Dane and Bridget to the fabulous island of Oahu. We stayed at the Marriott's Ko Olina in a 2 bedroom timeshare with a full kitchen. The trip was so much fun because I was able to show Trent the places I went and things I did while I lived there. Dane and Bridget were awesome to let me help plan the itinerary.

Day 1 (pink arrow):

We flew to Oahu on a new year's day red-eye which was fun because we counted down in the airport with all the other Hawaii-bound passengers! After we got to our hotel we went to church, bought groceries, ate, slept, and read the Hunger Games (I finished the whole trilogy while in Hawaii and am OBSESSED).

Dane as a fat opera mermaid!

Day 2 (red arrow and Trent and my Anniversary!):

We started the day off early and drove to the Dole plantation. There we walked around the gardens and ate a Dole Whip which I HIGHLY recommend.
After Dole, we drove to Haliewa and ate at my favorite Thai restaurant in the world, Haliewa Eats. Writing about it makes me salivate! We beached it up at Waimea where we all had a blast catching and getting rocked by the waves. By the time we all had head aches from the gigantic waves, we drove to Ted's Bakery for some haupia chocolate cream pie and they were sold out [tear]!

To wrap things up, I brought Trent to a secret place where four years ago I wrote our names in a tree. It was so awesome to see it there and be with him. Such a happy anniversary day!

Day 3 (orange arrow):

The crew drove to Pearl Harbor, a place where none of us except Dane had gone. It was so neat to walk around the historic site and re-kindled memories of Trent and my day at Dachau, Germany.

I'm so glad we took the time to reflect and remember the American soldiers whose bodies are forever entombed in the USS Arizona.

Trent and me standing over the USS Arizona

Day 4 (yellow arrow):

We woke up at 5 am on Wednesday to try to hike the Stairway of Heaven. It's an illegal hike due to the lack of public parking around the area so to try to avoid the upset neighbors, people leave way early in the morning. I took the hike while I was there and thought 5 am would be sufficient but I was wrong...

Unfortunately, we weren't early enough. A surprisingly nice security guard arrived at 3 am and told us we couldn't hike the trail.

Bummer.

Instead we went to a beach with some small waves and boogy boarded. We still had a great time but had to finish our day early because we were so tired from waking up so early.

Eating delicious curry that evening

Bridget hooked on the Hunger Games (book 1)

Trent and Dane goofing around on the internet

Me hooked on the final book of the Hunger Games trilogy called Mockingjay

Day 5 (green arrow):

The group started the day off a little more leisurely as we drove to Laie, the city were I lived from April to June of 2008. We took the Laie falls hike that I never finished due to some creepy guys I went on the hike with. Trent and I ran down the mountain and I fell. Ouch!

at Laie Falls

After we ate burgers at the Hulilau Cafe and spent time with Bridget's old mission companion, Solia.
Solia got us some fantastic discount tickets to the Polynesian Culture Center dinner and night show "Ha: Breath of Life." I'm so glad we were able to get a good deal because the show was AMAZING. They changed it since I worked there four years ago and I highly recommend it to anyone whose planning a Oahu trip in the near future.

Us all at the Ohana Luau

Trent and I dancing on the Luau stage in celebration of our anniversary!

Day 6 (blue arrow):

On our last day we relaxed at the famous Haunama bay snorkeling and sunbathing. We got ready for our flight, ate a delicious dinner at California Pizza Kitchen, and said "Mahalo" to my favorite state as we flew back at 11pm.

Haunama Bay

Overall, the trip was an absolute blast. I'm so glad Dane and Bridget invited us! We had a great time with them and getting to know them better. It was so relaxing especially when comparing the trip to our Europe backpacking trip! And I accomplished my goal: convincing Trent to retire there :)