Saturday, September 6, 2008

Getting used to paradise...








Ahhh, my first mai tai ever! I had to go all out and get it in the pineapple.







Well it is official. We are finally living in our rental home. We’ll only be here until October 15th but that will be the longest I’ve lived somewhere since May! We are living in a resort community that also has town homes (http://www.koolina.com/). Ko Olina is great because we are a short walk from the beach, pool, golf course, tennis courts, gym, beach bars, and Roy’s (restaurant).

The past few weeks have been a blur. We’ve been playing tourist and exploring the island. We swam off Waikiki, climbed Diamond Head, spent a weekend on the North Shore, surfed (or at least I attempted to), body surfed at Sandy Beach (Edward, not me), had a plate lunch at a local Hawaiian BBQ place (not like BBQ on the mainland, think meat and 3 but with meat and mac salad and white rice), visited the Arizona Memorial and drank way too many mai tai. It’s been a blast but the real world was calling, so we moved in on Monday and are finally getting settled.

The real world for me consists of finding a job. I’m not really excited about the job search but I think it means I’ll start blogging a lot more!




Some of the sweet people who greeted us at the airport.













Finally at the hotel.














View from the hotel room...little dots are all the surfers.













Sandy Beach on the Windward side of the island.
















More intimidating waves at Sandy Beach.













Lanikai Beach near Kailua.














Seriously, it is this beautiful.














Hunauma Bay, we snorkeled here.













Arizona Memorial














Inside Arizona















Looking toward Waikiki from the top of Diamond Head.














Honolulu and Waikiki from our sunset booze cruise.














Diamond Head. The little white speck is a light house where the Commander of 14th District of the Coast Guard lives. I'm going to a tea there next weekend.










A few rum drinks into our booze cruise. Diamond Head in the background.














Turtle Bay on the North Shore.

6 comments:

Harvey/Emily said...

Sarah, it is so beautiful! You and Edward look like you are having so much fun. I'm so glad you guys ended up in Hawaii and not Alaska! You both look so happy. I love the pictures. Please keep them coming. love you both, emily

p.s. I miss e-mailing you at work:(

Beth said...

I REALLY can not believe you live here. It looks like a postcard. As the baby cries in the background and the neighbor cranks up the lawn mower, I must admit I'm a bit jealous. Can't wait to hear more as you get settled. Good luck with the job search!

AT said...

I showed the picture of you at the bar drinking your pineapple thing to Neal...he said, "how many lai's does she have on? She must be happy." He knew how many you wanted. I loved it. Fantastic pictures. It's about time you updated. I've been dying to see some pics. I can't believe you live somewhere that beautiful. I'm ready to book my flight now. Miss and love you!
T

anna said...

Yea an update! That first picture gave me flashback to la fiesta in Auburn except with a fishbowl margarita. In those pictures it looks like you were born to live in Hawaii. It is absolutely beautiful. Believe me you are not missing anything here. I hope the job hunt is going better. Talk to you soon. Miss you!

Ellen Leone said...

Hey Sarah,
I've finally gotten the chance yo check out your blog again! You guys look like you are having a great time! Your pictures are awesome!
Say hi to the Dara's (sp?) for us! Lance and Mike were in flight school together and obviously went to the academy together.
You have to meet the Crecy's too if you haven't already. Kevin is a 65 pilot and Stacy is a good friend of Lance's from the academy as well.
We were so sad to hear about the helo crash last week. Everyone is still in our prayers.
We miss you guys and can't wait to come visit!

Tara said...

Hey Sarah!
Good to see you on here! I just stumbled across yours and Beth's blogs today and it made me so happy! The pictures are unbelievably beautiful, and you get to live there! How great is that?! We've also got a blog like everyone else in America these days. It's www.theroneyfamily.blogspot.com. Glad to see you are doing okay.
Love,
Tara