Past 2 Weekends Update

St. Patrick’s Day weekend we had our first visitors; Sarah, Chris, Bryan, and Sarah Pauls. Bryan and Sarah are two of their friends from Cedar Falls. After they arrived the girls went to the mall while the boys enjoyed the beautiful spring weather. We went to Wellman’s which has a nice patio and roof top seating area. It was a lot of fun, and we were excited to have our first visitors.

This past weekend Luke and I did our first official “Iowan” activity. We went biking with our friends Brett and Anna. We met them Saturday morning at Mullet’s downtown and biked South to Cummings, IA where we stopped at the Cummings Tap and biked back downtown (24 miles). I was a bit apprehensive when we decided to do this, I wasn’t sure if we would be able to make it…but we did! Two great weekends in Des Moines, looking forward to many more!

Rest of Hawai'i Recap...

Monday: We woke up to wonderful weather, so Luke and I jumped out of bed and ran down to the beach to catch some good pictures and enjoy the sun. We decided to take the helicopter tour that day,after doing some research and finding some available seats, we realized we had to be there at 10:15. The helicopter ride was fun and offered some views of the island we would not have gotten to see without being in the air. We saw where Jurassic Park was filmed and went in several cliffs and valleys. The views were breath-taking. The best was the Na Pali Coastline. I can’t put into words what the views looked like. After the helicopter ride we came back to the resort, made lunch, and ate it by the ocean. The waves here are so much bigger than anything we have ever seen, way bigger than the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. I could sit and watch them for a long time. While I was relaxing by the ocean
Luke spent some time breaking up a coconut to get the nut out of the outer shell. We finished the afternoon by the pool. We spent the evening on the South side of the island as that is where the best views of the sunsets are and we wanted to see the Spouting Horn blowhole. The blowhole was very neat and that part of the island had a lot to offer. We ate a Bubba Burgers and then came back down to the beach and took some pictures and explored the black rocks. After watching the sunset, it was
cloudy, so it was hard to see, we went back to the shopping area where we ate and I got shaved ice and Luke/Dad/Ann got ice cream.

Tuesday: We woke up at 4 a.m. to catch a flight over to Oahu. The flight was only 20 minutes so that was
nice. We took a Discover Hawaiian Island – Circle Island Tour and we saw a lot!

Highlights:
Pearl Harbor
U.S.S. Arizona Memorial
Dole Pineapple Plantation (Dole doesn’t actually produce pineapples in Hawaii anymore, they are all
grown by hand for locals)
Macadamia Nut Farm
Koala Ranch (this is where we stopped to eat lunch, they had a petting zoo which housed a pot-belly pig
and tortoise together…kind of weird)
Per Luke Magnum P.I.’s House and other filming locations
Pipeline Beach, Sandy Beach, Sunset Beach, Waikiki Beach
Diamond Head Crater
Downtown Honolulu
Wailealu Bay (President Obama’s vacation home is located at the end of this bay, this is also where they
film Corona commercials. The waves were HUGE at this bay!)
Laie Point Lookout

We spent the rest of the trip relaxing and enjoying time away from work and other obligations. Luke and I took a 4 mile hike along the coastline and it was beautiful. We played resort games such as; bocce ball as a family. Hung out on the hot tub, shopped at the local shops, and ate at a bunch of local restaurants. The last big activity that we did was the Smith Garden Luau. It was a lot of fun, we got to see the history of dance and how the different cultures influenced the current residents of Hawai’i. Overall, it was a wonderful trip and I would love to go back! We started to plan what islands we would go to next on our way home.

Trip to Hawaii - Day 1 and 2

Lihue, Hawaii Day 1 – 2
Saturday: We arrived in Lihue International Airport to live music from Polynesian dancers, which quickly rejuvenated us after our long hours of travel. We flew from Des Moines – Denver- Los Angeles – Lihue, Hawaii. Dad and Ann landed before us, so they were getting the rental car while we got our luggage. We got our luggage and waited about 2 minutes before they picked us up in our luxurious rental car, a Mercury Grand Marquis. Ha! We checked into our resort, Pono Kai Resort, and unpacked our belongings. We then decided to take a drive around the area to find something to eat and get a few groceries for the morning. We ate at the Pacific Rim Bistro, which we found out later is ranked as the best Chinese restaurant on the island. Then we went to the store in a sleepy fog and bought a few groceries, came back to the condo, and crashed.

Sunday: We woke up to cloudy skies and rain; we were all disappointed but decided to make the best of it. We were in Hawaii after all. We went to the Olympic Café for brunch. Despite the rain we enjoyed sitting on the covered balcony and trying local flavor. After brunch we walked into a few of the surrounding shops and then headed back to our resort. We decided to get in the car and start driving towards Princeville to see what other areas of the island had to offer. The Kilauea National Park was closed due to the rain, but we were able to take some pictures and take in the amazing scenery. By this time the rain had stopped and we were able to enjoy the rest of our time exploring different beaches and state parks.

A few things to note from Day 1-2

-Dad turned down a one-way when he was attempting to turn around so we could head back the way we came

-Luke said that a horse was a cow, Alex thought a rock was a whale and washed up drift wood was a seal, Dad said we all needed to visit the zoo for lessons in animal identification

-Ann wanted us to take a picture basically in the ocean, we all had on shoes and socks and she wanted us to jump down by these rocks where water was crashing up. Dad vetoed that.

Home Update

Luke and I have spent the past 2 weekends getting the house unpacked and making it a "home". Also, our new washer and dryer came today and I'm very excited about it!
Below are a few pictures of our house now that we have pictures on the wall.

2012

2012 has started off a bit chaotic for Luke and I, but that is what makes life fun, right? Last weekend we moved into our new house and we are in the process of unpacking all of our belongings. I absolutely LOVE our new house, even if I was only there for roughly 48 hours. I have been working a go live at work, which involves going from a paper chart to an electronic medical record for roughly 250 Physicians and even more clinical staff. And me being at work Sunday – Friday, so my weekends at home are cut a little short, but this is the last week of the go live support. Yay! This past weekend we flew to Ohio for my Grandpa Chaney’s funeral, which was really sad, but he is no longer suffering and hitting hole in ones on the golf course. ;) In a month Luke and I go to Hawaii, I am very much looking forward to that and the break. It’s definitely needed. We really need to start eating better and exercising, and maybe I should not use the “royal we”…I need too. Hopefully, the fact that we’re going to Hawaii will help motivate me. Ha!

8995 Lake Drive

Since, I am limited in how many pictures I can send in email I am putting all the pictures that I took here. The house is on a corner lot, we are having the basement finished. It will have 3 bedrooms upstairs and a 4th downstairs along with a rec room and bathroom.


Living Room


Back deck from the kitchen


Master bathroom


Master bedroom


Laundry room


Guest bathroom upstairs


One of the spare bedrooms


View from the stairs into the office/den/formal dining room


Front door


Mud room (entrance from garage)


Living room


Kitchen


Half bath on main floor


View up from the front door



Front of the house

Thanksgiving in Hastings, NE

Luke and I traveled to Hastings, NE to spend Thanksgiving with the Albertson’s. We stayed at Stephanie and Matt’s house and had a great time. The weather was fantastic this year, and we even ate our Thanksgiving meal outside (we had delicious ribs and wonderful sides, compliments of Matt and Kathy). Stephanie made Luke’s favorite green bean casserole and we can’t forget Stove Top. Luke was able to go to the race track and drive John’s Porsche; I believe that was a highlight for him.  We also had our Albertson Christmas gift exchange, which is always fun. Luke takes the cake with his new Iowa State sweater. Other than that we spent our time visiting, sitting on their back patio, watching football, and eating until we could eat no more.


Sarah gave us some great advice before taking a picture, you're supposed to think to yourself "I feel a little bit pretty". Above is the result of our experiment. You can be the judge.


Since the weather was so nice, we spent a lot of time enjoying Stephanie and Matt's new patio. Nothing like quality time while on your smart phone.


Luke's new sweater...I think it's pretty cool.