Mid-week mini-vacation!

Hank and I just returned from a nice trip to Lake Powell to spend a few days on the houseboat! It was a super relaxing, wonderful time as always...and it was awesome to get some family time in and some sun too. It's hard to believe that this time next year we'll have our little guy in tow with us when we head up there. Really puts things into perspective. I wasn't great with my camera all weekend, and a lot of my photos didn't turn out very well, but here are a few of them, via my Canon and my iphone. If you're curious, I'm using the shakeitphoto app, which I love. And as always, you can click on any of the photos to view them larger in Flickr.

heading through Flagstaff


nap and a WIN!




breakfast on the houseboat...looks good, huh?!




getting ready to take the smaller boat out...beautiful sunset


view from our slip- so pretty even docked


heading out on a day trip






I love the way this looks.

Hawaii!

Hi everyone! I am alive and well in beautiful Kona, Hawaii. We actually don't have internet at the house, yet, but I am using a Verizon broadband card to log on for a moment and post an update! It's been a busy past few days! My mother-in-law and I headed down to Phoenix Tuesday night after work...narrowly escaping a blizzard actually, believe it or not! I felt so bad leaving Hank behind in the snow as we took off for island weather...but still super happy to be getting out of the snow! I spent the rest of the night working out on the elliptical and watching "The Girls Next Door." Awesome. :) The next morning we got up early and headed over to the airport to catch our flight to Honolulu at 8am. It was a lovely flight. The food was excellent, and they offered a great selection of movies.

Upon our arrival in Honolulu, we grabbed some lunch at a place in the airport, and then hopped on a quick connecting flight to Kona. We arrived mid-afternoon, rented a vehicle, and headed over to the house. The rest of the afternoon was spent at the house, and then out and about, shopping for necessities. For dinner we enjoyed Mexican food along the water, and I slept so well. Yesterday I woke up early and had a nice run along Allii Drive, and then we spent the entire day doing shopping for the house- renovations, granite, glass, beds, furniture, etc. It was exhausting but we got a lot done. We ate lunch at The Harbor House, one of our favorite Kona spots, and tried Jameson's for dinner, which is right down the street from the house. It was so delicious, and the dessert was to die for- homemade lemon-macadamia nut chiffon pie. Seriously so, so good. I wish I could upload a slice for you to try! haha.

Today's been a little slower, because we're waiting for some deliveries. I swam for awhile this morning in the pool (the ocean was a little rough), and I thought I would sneak away for a minute and update! The trip has been awesome so far- very busy but this weekend it should slow down a bit and I should be able to get some more beach time in. The weather is amazing- about 75 and a little breezy. I wish all of you were there to enjoy this with me! I will try and blog again soon, but until then, I hope you are having a beautiful day.

xoxo...and Aloha! ;)

relaxing


yummy fruit on the plane


smaller plane we took to Kona


waiting for the rental car...PALEST girl in Hawaii! haha


pulling up to the house :)


lower lanai


backyard


gardens, so pretty




path down to the water and the tidepools


lunch at the Harbor House


the amazing pie!


Magic Sands beach




sunset in Kona


ps, I've been posting a lot of updates via Twitter, because I don't have regular internet! Click here to follow me, if you'd like! :)

Sunday

Lovely photo, huh? Arizona is so pretty. That was my view driving back up to Prescott this morning from Phoenix via my blackberry's camera. It was another whirlwind weekend spent with family, and I had a great time. I really need to come down when I have more than two days- there are so many people I want to spend time with but between events and family, it can be hard to fit everything in!

The weekend was super fun. Because I had stayed up until pretty late the night before in celebration of Erin and Alana's birthday so I slept in for a good while. I woke up and headed over to the salon and Rhonda colored and trimmed my hair. Whenever I see her I feel happy for days afterward- I love her so much! The rest of the afternoon was spent with my Mom, catching up on Big Love, and eating yummy food. Later in the evening I met Laur and Abe at the gym, and spent the rest of the night relaxing at my parents'. We woke up fairly early this morning and did our usual green-tea fueled Trader Joe's run, then I headed back up the mountain on a pretty pleasant two-hour drive home.

Today's been a happy day- one, I got in a great workout while everyone else was Superbowl-ing. I've been working extra-hard lately and I am feeling really good about it. And two, I found out that I will be going to Hawaii for 9 glorious days in just about a month! I can't wait...Kona is one of my/our all-time favorite vacation spots and it's going to be such a great time. In the spirit of Hawaii, here are a few photos from our last trip there! :)

We spent a week in January at an adorable house on the Kona coast, and relaxed until we couldn't relax anymore! It was so nice escaping the snowy weather...but it was really hard to come back to the cold after enjoying tropical warmth for awhile.

Hank playing his little ukulele in the backyard


path in the backyard


on the rocks behind the house- it was sea turtle central and Hank was so happy :)


Sea turtle!


beautiful days at the house


open air market


in the back of the house- I fell in love with the sunsets there


love in hammock :)





Hawaiian shaved ice...in Hawaii ;)


where we rested our heads :)


I hope all of you had a beautiful weekend...here's to a fantastic Monday!

Weekend in Review

What a weekend! I am so tired but it was definitely a good one, being the last weekend of my Fall Break. Our friend Alex came into town from San Francisco, so Hank took off work for the weekend and we had a grand old time. On Friday we hung out downtown, ate dinner at Hugo's and then went and saw Where the Wild Things Are. We spent Saturday wandering around, visiting antique and vintage shops, eating lots of food, and enjoying the most beautiful day. Later in the evening I went to the gym with Bryce for a good workout and then we all got pie and coffee late into the night. This morning was a rough start for me, but I got in a great workout and then enjoyed brunch at The Dinner Bell with everyone. Alex left around 10am (but not before surprising us with awesome presents!) and I spent the rest of the morning trying to pull myself out of a weird mood and sad emotions and ended up in my classroom, getting organized. Overall it was a wonderful time and it was so good to spend quality time with good friends.

Here are some photos from the weekend!

Friday -

perfect fall day on our street!










the ONLY place to sit at the movie theater! :)


Saturday-

good morning!


green tea ftw!


Alex and me










xxx ;)


RB and me