Engaged!

Today started like any other Sunday, waking up late and lazy and having a delicious breakfast (smoothies and peanut butter toast). Then we quickly packed up and left for an afternoon hike in Auburn at Hidden Falls Regional Park. We walked about forty minutes along the trail until we got to a beautiful secluded spot with trees all around, with a very convenient picnic table, where we took out and enjoyed our pasta salad, chocolate covered almonds, and sweet tea. After lunch we continued down to the falls, which were beautiful and also very crowded, so we didn't stay long.

Hidden Falls at the Overlook

We walked back to the main trail and then decided to hike the Pond Turtle Road towards the Seven Pools Loop and Vista Trail, where luckily we discovered there was hardly anyone around! We walked to the end of Pond Turtle and found a little vista overlook next to the river. We played in the river and attempted to skip rocks, and then went up a little hill and found a beautiful shady spot with some trees and flowers and a great view.

We sat down and enjoyed the scenery for a while, and had fun taking some pictures with Nick's fancy camera and the teeny tiny tripod. We had a hard time finding the right soft light but eventually got it right! It was set on a delay and took five pictures at a time. It was a beautiful day and was about three o'clock in the afternoon.

Nick set up the camera one last time to get a picture of us sitting down. He set the camera up and then walked back over to me, but instead of sitting, he got down on one knee and asked, "Will you marry me?"

Of course, the answer was YES! It came out "Duh!" first, of which I am not very proud of, but looking back is pretty funny. I said "Yes!" immediately after, so hopefully that fixes it. Nick just laughed.

Happy! 

Immediately after/during this photo, we were interrupted by a shirtless hippie hiker, who awkwardly asked to get past us on the trail. Poor guy! Now, we were still at the bottom of the trail, a good half hour away from the car, and I was so excited I practically ran up the first hill! We hiked up the rest of the way (all uphill!) holding sweaty hands and admiring my ring. I felt like shouting out at everyone we passed, "We're engaged! We just got engaged! LOOK!" and shoving my hand in their face so they could see what a beautiful ring Nick had custom designed for me. It even has my great-grandmother's (suspected) wedding ring melted into the gold, which makes it even more special.

Sparkly! My precious. ^_~

Once we reached the car, I called my house to see who was home, being very sneaky and casual about everything. My mom was running errands with Nanny, so we decided to surprise Nick's family first! We pulled into their driveway and they all came out of the house to greet us. Their first thought was that somethin was wrong, because we came up with no notice. We walked over to the deck and Nick told them we had a surprise for them. I held up my hand.

Their reaction was great! Nick's mom clapped both hands to her face and gasped, and they were all so surprised! They were also happy, which made me happy too, because I really love Nick's family. We spent about fifteen minutes there talking about how he asked, and when the wedding might be, and admiring my ring, and then his dad had to leave to pick up his grandparents from the airport (they just got back from Hawaii!) and so we left and drove to my parents house.

My mom was still out but would be coming back in about a half hour, and my dad had a member of his band "Close to You" (Carpenter's tribute band, they sound great!) over to practice, so I twisted my ring around so it looked like just a band and we pretended everything was normal. For over two hours, until the friend left.

IT WAS TORTURE.

It was pretty funny afterwards, though! I was dying to tell everyone and was having the hardest time keeping my hand from flinging out and accidentally giving it away. I kept my hand curled over and at my hip a lot, and spent the whole time my mom was back avoiding her. Last night we went out to the symphony with my parents, and my mom noticed that I had taken off my normal small diamond ring from when I was sixteen and was wearing a different costume ring. I knew she would notice this, so I had to stay far away! Nick and I took the dogs for a walk around the circle, and I spent a lot of time running around checking on the cats, and bringing in dog food, and looking at the flowers, and not talking to mom.

Today there was a solar eclipse! We poked a hole in paper with a pin and used it to cast the light from the solar eclipse onto another piece of paper. It was very cool, but also hard, because my mom was always there and I was so afraid she would see my ring and we would have to tell them then! I wanted it to be a big surprise.

After dinner the band friend left (I felt bad, I spent the whole time wanting him to leave instead of making him feel welcome) and we were sitting outside on the deck eating cantaloupe and mango and strawberries when I brought up our hike. Mom asked us how that went, and I said, oh, fine, you know, we saw the waterfall and then walked out to this beautiful secluded area by the river and Nick gave me this. And I held up my hand.

Mom and Dad just froze, and Dad asked, "What kind of ring is that?" and I said, "An engagement ring!" and then they kind of exploded and were like "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US!" and they got up and gave us hugs and were so excited and happy and it was so much fun! And Troy was on his computer and only paid attention at the part where mom and dad freaked out so he was like, rewind and tell the story again! So we did. 

Currently my mom has sent me about five different emails with wedding venues that look good, and is so, so excited. She has been watching wedding shows for a while since she knew Nick and I were serious. Now she has a reason to plan and be excited! She and dad I think are both very happy for us, and a little bit melancholy for when we were little kids and not getting married. Troy is kind of shocked and keeps saying "I feel old!", but is also being so sweet and happy for us. 

I called all my family and friends and shared the news and they are all so happy for us! Everyone loves Nick already so it was so great to tell them that we were making it official! It was really a very fun evening, and we appreciate everyone's congratulations and good wishes! 

Nick and I are very happy and kind of overwhelmed right now. Tomorrow we are driving back up to Auburn to tell his grandma in person and to drive to my Nanny's and see her in person. I have some more calls to make and then will post it on facebook to let everyone know. 

I feel so very lucky and extremely happy right now! 

One

One class.
One paper.
One hour of evaluations.
One meeting.
One day of grading transcripts.

Then . . . SUMMER!

Overcooked

Just ran/ walked 40 minutes on treadmill. Feeling hot and limp. Am now spaghetti. Ciao.

Chai Tea

Yesterday I discovered an absolutely deeeelicious drink, that until I tried I thought I would not like.

(Spoiler Alert: I am so totally going to use this story when trying to convince kids to try a new food.)

I generally do not like chai tea on its own, but love those chai lattes or mixes because they are yummy and sweet. Luckily, yesterday in the market I saw a chai tea done by the Celestial Seasonings and decided to buy it, because I really love their teas. It is so good! And even better, the lid suggests brewing the tea, then sweetening it and adding milk.

IT IS DELICIOUS OMG. By adding honey and rice milk to the tea, I have discovered my new favorite drink. Which I am sipping right now.

It's so yummy go buy some! And then make me one. ^_~

Catching Up . . .

Well. I certainly seem to excel at waiting months between posts and then writing a belated summary of events, don't I? We'll see if I can nix that habit, but for now I will continue in that glorious tradition:

Work is going great: I love the kids that I teach computers to and my coworkers are all made of awesome.

ONE WEEK OF SCHOOL LEFT OMG. Technically two, but I do not have finals so HA SUCKS TO BE YOU NICK. Mwahaha!

Speaking of Nick, things are going great! Coming up on 4 1/2 years next month! And wow, it seems like our 4 year anniversary just happened, where the heck is time going? I have a feeling I am going to be one of those perpetually bewildered old people, always wondering how I suddenly got to be old when just a few minutes ago I was typing this post!

We're started going to the Farmer's Markets around us, and WOW real tomatoes taste amazing! I've been snacking on raw broccoli and ate a pear for breakfast and the oranges are so delicious and the eggs are tasty and the apple juice is . . . well, actually not as good as I hoped, I will try a different vendor next time. Overall, however, we love it.

My Uncle Steve is doing good! His fight with the brain cancer glioblastoma is documented here. To summarize: his surgery went well, his chemo sucked but he did it, and his latest MRI was the best it could be! There have been a lot of ups and downs and scary moments, but right now is good.

Oh! Hey! I got an ipad 2 for Christmas and I LOVE IT SO MUCH.

We ran in the Davis Lucky 7k and finished in like 48 minutes, or something. I forgot. But we did finish! We keep talking about doing more and then we don't. But I have found three new races in Sac that look interesting, so I will keep you posted.

I have one semester left at Sac State, and then I graduate! I should be graduating in December of 2012!!! Yaaaay!

That means I have to decide where to get my credential, and possibly my masters. Eep!

As for me, I keep pretty busy between work and school, especially this semester. I had to do 70 hours of fieldwork at 4 different sites, and write a lot of papers! That plus upping my work from 2 to 3 days a week teaching plus 2 days after-care . . . was challenging at times, but generally I enjoyed it. My stomach has been behaving (remember those days of gastritis/IBS/acid reflux? Me neither. Yay!) My biggest stressor lately has been trying to keep our apartment clean. That, plus wishing we had more sunshine on our patio so I could grow some non-shady plants (I would kill to grow some basil!).

Hopefully I will remember to update this blog every now and then. ^_~

Ciao!

Happy Happy Happy!

Today we celebrated my birthday, my brother's birthday, and my boyfriend's birthday by eating dinner at my parent's house with my Nanny and my brother's girlfriend. We ate Vera Cruz tomatoes and baked potato and applesauce, with carrot cake for dessert! So yummy.

So now I am 23! I still feel the same. And my little brother is 20! He is all grown up. I'm sorry, buddy, but I still see you as a little boy who needs bossing. I'll try to work on that. ^_~

My parents just bought a 3D TV and we watched a 3D movie on it with our funny 3D glasses. It was really cool! Now we are home and relaxing before bed.

I have had such a great day. Nick woke me up by making waffles with chocolate chips, and then making me study for my last final (that part wasn't so great). I took my final (I think I did well!) and then came back for a few hours that I just spent with Nick. Then I drove to Olive Garden to have a luncheon given by the Board of Trustees for the teachers at the school I work at. It was just lovely, and really thoughtful of them to do. The director of the school stood up and said really nice things about all of us, and handed us cards with a bonus in them! He said that all the children love me and that the parents and even the teachers stop in to tell him that they like the way I teach. That was really, really nice to hear and I appreciate them so much! I really love my job. Also amazing is the Christmas presents that the parents give the teachers! I have received two armfuls of presents! Starbucks cards, candles, a beautiful Christmas mug, cookies, chocolates, candies, a little purse, a leather paper holder, a beautiful bookmark, numerous lovely cards, and so much more. There are really wonderful people at this school. ^_^

Here's to a great year! It's off to a great start.

Life

My uncle was recently diagnosed with brain cancer.

This has affected our whole family and we are all consumed by worry for him and his family. There is such a feeling of helplessness, because all we can do is learn about this disease and support him.

And yet life continues on. Nick and I are nearly finished with this fall semester, and as soon as this next week of finals is finished I will be a senior! Finally. Work continues, and the children are all very excited for the holidays, ready for vacation. We are preparing for a family vacation: my family and Nick will be going to Barbados! My brother has joined a new band and performed a few nights ago, and he is looking to further his musical career by investigating music colleges. My parents are remodeling the house and just bought a new TV--a 3D one this time! We are all also doing our Christmas shopping and looking forward to spending time with our family. I will be spending this Christmas with my family instead of Nick's because of Steve's diagnosis.

We are all so busy in our lives, but sometimes life seems to pause. And we continue to worry.

Rawr

Big test on Wednesday! I attended a 3 hour study session this morning, and then studied for another three hours this afternoon. Whew!

We went and saw Dracula by the Sac Ballet last night! It was fabulous, definitely something worth seeing again.

We are re-watching Burn Notice. I lurve Michael Westen!

Clair

Clair is Nick's little sister. She recently told me that I have mentioned her only three or four times in my blogging history. I need to remedy this.

Therefore:

Clair. Clair. Clair. Clair. ClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClair
ClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClair
ClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClair
ClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClair
ClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClair
ClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClair
ClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClair
ClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClair
ClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClair
ClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClair
ClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClair
ClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClair
ClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClair
ClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClair
ClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClairClair
CLAIRCLAIRCLAIRCLAIRCLAIRCLAIRCLAIRCLAIRCLAIRCLAIRCLAIRCLAIR

*gasps for air*

CLAIRCLAIRCLAIRCLAIRCLAIRCLAIRCLAIRCLAIRCLAIRCLAIRCLAIR . . .

. . .


WHEW.

TIRED FINGERS.

Have fun in Hawaii, Clair! I can't wait to hear alllllll about it! ^_^

Also:

CLAIR.

Also Also:

CLAIR IS MARVELOUS.

Back in the Swing

We are now five weeks into the fall semester of college, and six weeks into teaching computers at the elementary school.

I'm kind of tired.

But in a good way!

Work is fun. Today I taught 3rd graders the entire left hand homerow for typing, showed 4th graders how to make a pie chart with M&M's (that they got to EAT after, whee!) and 7/8th graders how to do the basics of html. The only problem is I don't have as much time as I would like to spend on my lesson plans as I would like, because . . .

Yeah, school. It's kind of homework-y. The last two or three weeks each Sunday has been like 7 hours of homework. In a ROW. That is a lot of homework. Plus, ya'know, trying to actually spend time with my boyfriend (who is still wonderful) and my family (who are also busy) and Nick's family (Hi Clair!) and I am just BUSY.

(Notice I am up at nearly 1am on a school night just so I could have some goof off time. Normal hours rebellion, ahoy! Also, zzzzzz.)

Um. What else. Taekwondo is good! Mostly. And I did a cardio class! And got really sweaty. Um, I need to clean my fish tank. I need to clean my apartment. The list of things I need to do is kind of long, so let's just skip that and I'll say I'm totally going shopping tomorrow morning, because Kohl's gave me a $10 off coupon and I need work clothes! Yay, shopping!

I'm off for bed.

Ciao!

TaeKwonDo

Once upon a time, a long time ago, in a town not too far away, I took TaeKwonDo classes with my brother and my dad and we all made 3rd degree black belt. Yay!

I stopped TaeKwonDo three or four years ago and got lazy and out of shape. Booo!

Then I missed it too much (especially kicking people) so I signed back up at a local school! Yaaaaay!

(I've taken a few weeks of classes so far and each class I get better endurance and improve but I am still nowhere near the level I used to be. But the people are super nice and I'm having a great time! Yaaay!)

(Also, my muscles hurt a lot after each class. Owie.)

Kauai Days 8-10

Sooooo . . . I kind of suck at updating lately, and now I can't even remember everything we did for the last days in Kauai. Oops.

At some point over the last few days, we:

1) Hiked the Kalalau Trail on the Napali coast from Ke'e Beach to Hanakapi'ai Beach, two miles each way. It was pretty much either going up or going down the entire time, but it brought us to a beautiful (if unswimmable) beach and beautiful views. On the way back I saw a wedding happening on the beach! Very pretty.

2) Beach time! We went to Poipu Beach again and swam in the gorgeous water--I miss how warm it was! and sunbathed with a very specific pattern. Step one: Apply sunscreen. Step two: Lay out for 5-10 minutes a side and then retreat to shade. Step three: Apply sunscreen and wait until it is absorbed. Repeat.

3) Luau! We saw the Kalamaku luau at the Kilohana plantation, which has dancing and fire dancing and delicious buffet food and free drinks, that tells about one family's voyage from Tahiti to Kauai. That was pretty cool too. :)

3) On our last day, Saturday morning, we got all of our things together and made sure the room was clean, and drove back to Lihue and ate our last lunch in Kauai. :( I had a delicious seared ahi taco! So yummy.

4) Flew back! We made our way through the super hot airport (lack of breezes=lots of sweating). We got on our plane (yay for air conditioning!) and flew back! Andra and I sat together and ended up moving back where Clay was as there were empty seats, and we were closer to everyone. We arrived in San Jose and Drew's mom picked us up, we said good-bye to Aly and Zach, and then we drove back! She dropped me off at home and I was so happy to see Nick again. ^_^

So! Overall, it was an incredible experience, and Kauai is beyond gorgeous. I can't wait to go back! Hopefully next time with Nick. ^_^

Kauai Day Seven, Tuesday

Kauai Day Seven, Tuesday

We planned on driving up to the North Shore of Kauai, a near two-hour trip each way, and meant to leave by ten.

Yeaaaah. We left at nearly noon.

The drive up was beautiful, as is everything in Kauai, and we saw lots of little towns and resorts and beautiful beaches and the most beautiful mountain ranges ever. By the time we arrived it was one o'clock and lunch was sounding good. Instead of getting lunch we decided to hike first, snorkel, and then eat. We set off in search of the trailhead.

Yeaaaah. We found where the trailhead was supposed to be, two miles down a one-lane road, and there was a house, a friendly dog, and it was sectioned off. We decided to hike a trail we'd seen on the road off to the side instead, called Okoleani at the base of He'emanu Mountain, which means manta-ray. The thing about mountains? That I conveniently forgot? Is that they go up. We hiked for 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours up, which sucked, but was really pretty, and then we ran into a local who is something of a guide, and she showed us some neat plants such as awapuhi, which softens hair. She also told us that the trail goes for about five hours to a scenic overlook. We decided to turn back. The hike down was not nearly as long but it was difficult, and we slid a few times in the steep mud.

Finally we made it! We were down, and alive, and we were covered in mud which we washed off in a convenient stream. Yay!

We then headed to Anini Beach to snorkel, which I didn't do because I was tired and hot, so I decided to hike back fifteen minutes down the road to a public restroom because I don't do the whole “Bladder Bay” thing. Andra picked me up on my walk back. They snorkeled and I swam for a few minutes to cool off in the very shallow sandy waters, and then lay on my towel in the shade.

For dinner we ate at Hanalei town and I had Hanalei Gourmet fish sandwich and the others ate at Bubba's Burgers, which is apparently famous because celebrities have eaten there. Mine was delicious!

We drove home and enjoyed the beautiful views again, and then Clay and I went in the jacuzzi and then we came back and I went to bed and read for awhile before falling asleep.

Kauai Day Six, Monday

Kauai Day Six, Monday

This morning I woke up about 8:30 and made some chocolate macadamia nut coffee, which then was left in the pot for awhile because I decided to go to the gym along with Drew. My usual workout is some weight training and mostly treadmill and the stair machine, but Drew suggested some weights and new workouts and some killer crunches. I was too tired to run after!

Breakfast was half an everything bagel with scrambled egg on top, mmm! And the neglected coffee. ^_^ Andra and Drew went off to Costco while the rest of us had a lazy morning, reading and dozing and getting ready. Once they came back we decided that today we wanted to snorkel today!

We headed to Lawai beach and rented snorkel gear for $5 a day from Boss Frog's and then got in the water! It was very rocky and it was easier to swim through the shallow water than to walk with flippers. Right away we saw tons of beautiful fish! I recognized those moor fish, parrots, angelfish, and most definitely the two sea turtles that we found! Or rather, Andra and I found one farther out (he hid under a coral cave but then came up and bobbed about getting air!) and then the others found one right by the shore! We got scraped up by the rocks in about one foot of water at times, and have a few cuts but ohmigosh it was soo close and cool! The waves were pretty strong and were knocking us around and we had to be careful not to get knocked into the turtle! He was just chowing down on the food on the rocks, ignoring us. We got out after a while and rinsed off, then decided we were all starving and needed pizza.

We drove to a Pizzetta restaurant and had freshly made calzones and pasta! I had a Hawaiian calzone, delicious. Then we drove back and relaxed. I went to load more photos in the lobby and now am back in the room eating popcorn and watching the movie Mario. Good times. ^_-

Kauai Day Five, Sunday

Kauai Day Five, Sunday

I spent an hour wandering the beach and cliffs with my camera and then tried to upload them at the lobby. We had a slow morning but eventually decided to go to Nawiliwili Beach back in Lihue, where we swam in the crescent strip beach for a while but mainly stayed in the shade. We are waaay too afraid of the sun now! (Probably a good thing).

For an early dinner we went to Duke's Canoe Club which was right on the beach. There were two singers playing guitars and serenading us throughout dinner, the main singer had a really amazing voice. We sat way in the back by a pond with koi fish and had calamari appetizers, and I had a delicious mahi mahi sandwich. The most amazing part of dinner, however, were the lava flow drinks! We had multiple people back in California telling us how amazing they were, and they were not wrong. It was basically a pina colada with strawberry syrup/sauce added, deeeelicious!

We then decided to be super classy and go to WalMart to look for some cheap movies. We also lucked out and found some rashguard shirts (tight spandex-y shirts for surfing that have UV 50 protection) because we are so afraid of the sun!

We made it home and decided to watch Hellraiser, which was . . . interesting. And kind of gory. Andra and Drew made popcorn and we snacked on it until the movie was finished, at which point I was about asleep because of a Benadryl I took to relieve the itching from my sunburn.

Kauai Photos, Again

Photobucket uploads photos ridiculously slow, but I have about two hundred (half or so) loaded here! Enjoy!

Kauai Day Four, Saturday

Kauai Day Four, Saturday

Woke up at nearly eight, made vanilla macadamia nut coffee (had chocolate macadamia nut yesterday) and then went with Drew to work out in the resort's gym. Ran a mile and did a little bit of leg workouts and then realized my shirt was chafing my burn too badly to continue. Came back, drank coffee, ate half a bagel, called Troy and remembered today is my Nanny's 90^th birthday! Yaaay!

We all decided to go to Koke'e State Park and drive Waimea Canyon, which is the “Grand Canyon of the Pacific Coast”. Speaking as someone who has hiked the Grand Canyon, Waimea Canyon is way too green and the temperature is way too cool. ^_- We all pile in our two rental cars (after another intensive sunblocking expedition of layers of sunblock, clothes, sweater [even though it was a bit too warm for a sweater], and packed our backpacks with food bars and water and towels in case we went swimming) and drove to Waimea, which took nearly half an hour. Beautiful drive!

While on the drive with my friend and Clay in our car, I called to wish Nanny a happy birthday. Troy had told me that as a surprise, they were picking up two of Nanny's best friends and taking them to dinner and then to a Cirque de Symphony performance. I talked with Nanny and wished her a happy birthday, and talked with mom and dad for a while. Dad told me that he and mom stayed a night where we were headed when they honeymooned by hiking the Na Pali coast!

We started the drive up the canyon. It was incredibly beautiful, but hard to take pictures of because there is so much lush vegetation that it blocks the view half the time! Luckily during our hike we had some great views. After over ten miles of winding roads, we pulled over at the Koke'e State Park trailhead and began hiking down to a waterfall. We suspect it was nearly two miles each way, it took about an hour to go down, some of which was nice and easy, some very steep and slippery! The views along the way were incredible, especially on this one big rocky area where the canyon just opened up before us. There were some switchbacks and steep parts after that, but we finally made it down to two waterfalls, an upper and a lower one. We spent some time there, and Allie even swam (I reapplied sunscreen to the few spots available to be burned) and ate a yogurt bar and drank some water.) Then we went to the lower waterfall which was just gorgeous and took some more pictures. We finally decided to head back, feeling the heat and feeling kind of hungry and thirsty. And MY GOD. Are these people ever in shape. It took us about 45 minutes to get back to the top, and the whole time I was sweating and panting and dripping and gasping and at the back of the pack. Allie was hopping around like a mountain goat, and the guys have such long legs they were making big strides, and Andra is just in great shape. I lugged along behind them, wishing I would take off my sweater but afraid to give the sun another chance. FINALLY we made it to the top! Whew!

We drove back the way we came and stopped in a small town for Jo Jo's Shaved Ice. I had a tropical paradise, which had guava, passion fruit, and some other flavor, plus macadamia-nut ice cream at the bottom. Delicious! I loved the ice cream so much! Then we decided we were too hungry to wait for dinner at a restaurant, and walked to a small taco hole-in-the-wall. This food? So amazingly good. I had seared wasabi ahi taco with cabbage and a wasabi aioli sauce on a homemade tortilla with some mild salsa and some homemade tortilla chips. The taco was big and stuffed, there was a lot of ahi that was so deliciously rare, and we all just fell in love with our food. A definite must whenever in Kauai!

One bad point to today: I discovered BLISTERS on my chest from the sunburn! Very small, clear blisters on the reddest parts! I am so upset, I hate that I damaged my skin so badly. I am NEVER going to go without sunscreen again. Ever. This is just way too painful and way too scary to deal with. The bright side is most of the sunburns are not as painful today, just a few around the edges of my bikini. Gah.

So we came back from Waimea, taking a quick detour to find where the blowhole spout is (right by us) and found a great deal on snorkeling equipment (Boss Frog's, must go back) and realized we were right by Poipu Beach, which is supposed to have great snorkeling. Unfortunately we were too darn tired to explore any of that today.

Now we are back in the resort. Allie, Zach, and Clay are at Shipwreck Beach boogie-boarding, though it is nearly dark and they should be back soon. Andra and Drew just drove to rent a movie for tonight, and I am sitting here by myself after a shower and reapplying medicated Aloe Vera all over. Yay!

As soon as my friend and Drew come back I'm off to the main area to connect to wifi and to upload these last few days posts and put the pictures up! . . . they are home now and could not find the movie place but did buy some pasta to make for dinner!

We are having a wonderful time, sunburns aside, and I am just in love with how beautiful Kauai is. The only thing that would make this vacation even better is if Nick was here. Then it would be perfect.

Kauai Day Three, Friday

Kauai Day Three, Friday

The next morning was full of pain. We had debated going on a hike today (a SHADY hike) to stay out of the sun and the beach to let our sunburns heal.

Yeah.

We hurt too much to move. They had worsened over the night to the point where moving and sitting and even touching them hurt badly.

So we stayed in, putting on more aloe vera, eating, and sitting on the balcony. I woke up two hours before everyone again and spent the time reading Emma on the balcony and then dozing. There was no rain but it was kind of chilly so I ended up dozing with a beach towel over me on the lounge chair. We had bagels, fruit, and some poppyseed muffins for breakfast, and the others also had egg, ham, and cheese sandwiches.

My friend and Drew ran out to go to the store again and came back with aloe vera with lidocaine and tea tree oil. I took another Alleve and then a Benadryl to see if it would help with inflammation, but it mostly made me sleepy, so I tried to read in bed for a while and ended up falling asleep for two or three hours.

After my nap I put the lidocaine aloe vera on, which felt pretty darn amazing, yay! It didn't deal with all the pain however, so boo. And it doesn't last long, double boo.

Zach and Allie had left on a walk that morning and spent the day at the beach (they were not burned as badly as the rest of us) and we all stayed in until five or so when we decided to go on a hike at Poipu Beach by tide pools and blowholes, according to a book the concierge loaned us.

And thus began the most intensive hiking preparation ever seen.

Two layers of thick sunblock! Bathing suits just in case we wanted to swim after the sun went down! Workout capri's and a t-shirt, plus a 3/4 sweater! my friend and Drew had hats on, and Clay put a t-shirt over his head! We packed two backpacks with three different sunblocks, some snacks, water, a hiking book, our phones, and my big camera! We drove a mile or so to the Poipu Beach, and started walking around where the book said to go, and realized that it was just a beach area and not a hike at all.

We looked super cool in our intense sun-blocking outfits when surrounded by people in their swimwear, let me tell you.

We walked along the tide pools and saw some fish and crabs and lava rock, very pretty. We saw some sea turtles by the rocks on our hike, they were so cute! We found Zach and Allie, and Zach decided to walk back like they had came and Allie decided to swim in a little area where a ton of people were swimming. The ironic part was that beach had at least six signs saying “Do not Swim!” “Danger—Strong Current!” but there were so many people swimming and using boogie boards! We weren't comfortable leaving her so we stayed in the shade and watched her, feeling like bodyguards or something in our outfits. I called Nick and said goodnight. I miss him.

After her swim we started walking back to our car, and found a shop that rented boogie boards for $20 for a week! Great deal! They rented three and then were so excited that after driving home Drew, Clay, Allie, and Zach went out and boogie boarded at Shipwreck Beach. (In front of the Hyatt, the beach where we burned so badly the first day.) my friend and I sat on the couch at the resort and hoped they wouldn't die, it was sprinkling and the waves were intense and it was nearly dark.

They survived! And came back and we made a pizza from Costco at like 8:20 pm and then watched some crazy surfers on TV and sat around and talked and got tired.

Drew and Zach had been sleeping on the couch pull-out, but they are so tall their feet hung off, so Allie and I switched with them for the night and slept on the couch pull-out. I had taken another Benadryl that night and slept very well.

And now it is morning on the fourth day and I am on the balcony watching the waves and seeing the overcast skies and . . . wow, that was a really loud and big wave. Eeek! . . . and being misted on a little bit. It is after eight and I am thinking it is breakfast time.

Aloha!

Kauai Day Two Thursday

Kauai Day Two Thursday

So this morning I woke up at six and watched the sun rise. Drew and Zach woke up around seven, so I was excited to go back inside and talk to real people! Then about fifteen minutes later Allie woke up. my friend and my friend's brother were still asleep, so we decided to go get breakfast. We drove a few miles to a small foods store, Living Foods. It was so expensive we didn't buy a thing! A pineapple was nearly seven dollars, a box of Kashi cereal nearly nine. Ridiculous. So we went back and my friend's brother was up and he made us all breakfast sandwiches of eggs and ham and cheese, delicious! We ate it with green grapes out on the balcony and fresh coffee that Zach made. Yummy!

My friend had been at the gym and she came back while we were eating. We decided to go find the beach in front of the Hyatt, which was supposed to be amazing. We went got dressed and sunscreened and started on the trail to the right, and went about five or so minutes before we realized it was in the opposite direction! We went hiking back and continued along for nearly ten minutes before we hit sandy beach, and kept going until we made it to this amazing area with fine sand and great waves. We lay down our towels and backpacks. It was about eleven o'clock.

The big waves coming in were irresistible and we all made our way down to the water, letting the waves slam into us and knock us around. my friend and I stayed for maybe twenty minutes and then went up to lay down on our towels in the sun, but the guys were in the water for hours. Allie joined us (she'd run to the Hyatt to see about a salon thing) and went into the water as well. my friend and I kept sunbathing, watching our friends, and just talking. It was lots of fun!

Unfortunately we stayed out for over three hours with minimal sunblock applications. By the time we all decided to head back to our suite, I was noticeably pink on my chest. After the ten minute hike, other people were finding pink spots. A few hours later and we were all looking like lobsters, excepting Allie, whose Mexican heritage helped her just brown. (Grrrr.) I was red everywhere. Everywhere! It hurt sooo badly.

My friend's brother had decided to stay at the beach longer while we went back, and ran to Costco to stock our kitchen. He didn't reapply sunscreen either. (For the record, we all feel reaaaally stupid.) At Costco we spent nearly $200 on groceries and I bought more sunscreen and some aloe vera, which felt amazing on the pain. I also looked for sunglasses to replace mine which had broken the first day at the beach, but there were none.

The rest of the night was dedicated to us talking about how stupid we were, realizing that sunburns hurt like no other, and trying not to move. Also to taking pain medication, because OW.

We also medicated with mai tai's at the resort's $1 mai tai and free appetizer event from 5:30-6:30, where they had a buffet style of caulifower, broccoli, carrots and celery and a yummy dip, two different fried things with either crab or chicken, and the yummy drinks.

Then we went back to our suite and complained the whole night about sunburns and how we are all extremely stupid.

LESSON LEARNED: if you are white, put on a ton of sunblock and then put on more. And for the love of aloe vera, don't stay out in the sun for more than an hour your first day! Owwww!

Photos of Day One and Day Two

Link to my Photobucket account: here!