kauai 2008

Kauai was simply fabulous! I could definitely get used to listening to the sound of the ocean as I drift off to sleep. And 80 degree weather. And flip flops or sandals everyday. And the feel of island air. And the beautiful flowers. And the palm trees. And....I'll stop.

It was only 4 days but those 4 days were heaven. Thursday night was for exploring the resort & walking on the beach. Friday we went to Kipu falls. It is a really short hike to the falls where there is a rope swing. I was really nervous because the valet at the hotel told us a guy got hurt there the day before. Turns out he was more than hurt...he died. After reading the newspaper article I decided I wouldn't be taking any dives off a waterfall or rope swing. I changed my mind though :) It was scary but I knew I'd regret not doing it. After the falls I went scuba diving where I saw my favorite sea creature - the turtle and heard the symphony of the whales. Pretty amazing to hear! Saturday was a pontoon boat ride of the Na'Pali coast. AMAZING! I was in awe the whole time. It rained for part of the boat ride but I have to say that it made the mountains all the more beautiful. While on the boat ride we saw a couple of whales breech. So cool...especially after watching the Planet Earth movie on the migration of the whales. Dinner and ice cream Saturday night. Sunday was sacrament meeting in Ka'pa and then a drive to the north shore to Hanalei. Along the way we stopped at Wailua falls & a couple other random beautiful spots. The weather was great on Sunday. Perfect way to end a vacation...sun, sand & waves!

*One of many hammocks around the resort. The first morning there I woke up at 5 am and laid on the hammock for two hours. I watched the stars until they faded away and the sun came up. All while listening to the ocean.....*

*Yeah...I could definitely get used to this. Hanalei Bay*

*Sunrise at the hotel in Poipu*

*Na'Pali Coast*

*Wailua Falls*

Thanks for the invite brevans!!

minus one job

I am officially done with job #3. I finished just in time for my trip to Kauai. So nice! It was a little more than I had time or energy for. Hopefully now I can concentrate more on job #1 and school. Tonight I'm finding that I still have a list a mile long of things I need to do. Is there ever enough time?? I'm wondering how I can have too much to do when it is just me that I'm taking care of. How do all of you with spouses and kids do it?? I like being busy but sometimes wonder if I'm busy with things that aren't really all that important...hmmm.....

sick day

I took a sick day on Monday to go snowboarding with my nephew. It was rough but we managed to have a good time :0 T had his first lesson and did great!

I'm off to Kauai in 8 hours...better get to bed

old & dead? NO!

It is true that I am a little sensitive about what my 2008 birthday will bring. Turning the dreaded 2010 or as a friend of mine calls it -the dirty "th" word- is not something I am looking forward to. But what is a girl to do?? It's coming whether I like it or not. To ease the pain I've set some lofty goals for the year and am making sure I have at least one adventure a month! I have been doing a good job of reminding myself that I'm still plenty young...until I began receiving information about Medicare. WHAT?!?! I am not kidding, I get at least one advertisement in the mail a week for various "old people" products...Medicare insurance plans, hearing aids and then this week...this:Seriously?!?!?! I am not dead and not near death and I'm not old!!! Ew! I'll admit it may have set me over the edge a little bit. And I may have slapped the mailman if he'd been close enough. But really...how did I get on these mailing lists? Any ideas on how to put an end to this? Until I figure it out I'll have to keep repeating, "I'm still young, I'm still fun, I'm still in shape, I'm still young, I'm still fun, I'm still in shape...."

i can hardly wait!

18 days until Kauai!!!!!!!!!!!!!

snow.friends.snow.fun.snow

Such a fun weekend! Saturday I went snowboarding with some friends at The Canyons. My roommate saved me the $70 lift ticket by scoring a couple of free passes - nice! It was my second time on the mountain this year. By the end of the day I had found my 'boarding legs' again. I'm still a nightmare getting off the lifts. I don't have much control so I usually tell my lift buddies "save yourselves!" I most likely won't be looking out for them- it's all about keeping ME on my feet.

Saturday night ended with a trip to a hot tub with some of my best girls...ahhh!

Monday school was closed so I was free to play (I am LOVING a teachers schedule - too bad the pay is just pennies). I met up with SheRoos & HeRoos for some lunch at the Porcupine Grill. It was a perfect place to eat after a big snow storm and the company was even better.

I had Tuesday off too - Teacher Development Day - which I translate to mean another day to play. Seriously...I love this schedule! I did squeeze in a little work in the morning before heading up to Brighton for another fabulous day of snowboarding. The powder was so much fun!! I'm a chicken but when there is powder I get a little more daring. I did eat snow once - and went rolling but I smiled the whole way :)

What a great weekend!! I'm a lucky girl to have such fun friends - I wouldn't trade 'em for nuthin'! Can hardly wait for next year's snow adventure!!

Plans gone bad...

I had a plan. A plan for how I was going to accomplish the extra jobs, school and training I’ve taken on in 2008. Monday was great. Tuesday things started to unravel. Thursday I had a minor meltdown on my way home from job #2 wondering if I had possibly taken on more than I could handle. By Friday afternoon I found myself sick in bed and in quite a pissy little mood. This was NOT how things were supposed to go this week. So much for all of my new year’s resolutions – and my plan. I finally fell asleep though and woke up a lot less distraught then I had been a few hours earlier. So what if things didn’t go the way they were supposed to? Life doesn’t always go according to plans…right? Sometimes the most memorable and fun experiences don’t come from a plan…but from throwing out the plan and “living in the now”. I’m someone who always likes to have a plan but this year the plan is to be a little more *bendy* with those plans. After all didn’t someone once say that life is what happens when you are making other plans??

Ok – so about this blog thing. I am addicted to reading blogs!! I couldn’t resist starting one. I realize that most people won’t read it – losers. Just kidding! But seriously, I’ve been accused of not sharing what is going on in my life so for those that really are curious this is for you. Shout outs to Just-Jackie for helping me find a name. It is so fitting for my state of life right now J. And a shout out to nancy4wood for the awesome pic. Thanks for capturing a compli-KATE-d moment. Glad I could provide some entertainment for the Zion’s 2007 crew.