New Haircut

On July 26 I did something I haven't done for 9 years: cut my hair to my shoulders. I needed a change and I was sick of my hair being so heavy and all over me. Plus, I was hoping it would make me look a little older. When I was working at the high school I had several teachers and students ask me what grade I was, where my hall pass was, etc. I'm 23! I wanted it to be a little longer but you know how hair stylists always go shorter than you want. I asked for about 4 inches and she took off about 6 or 8. I was really pleased with the result though. It is much easier and faster to style. Do you think it makes me look older?
When I look at these pictures I miss my long hair. Who knows, maybe I'll grow it out again. It grows pretty fast. But for now, I'm enjoying short, sassy hair!

Vietnamese Food

Sorry I haven't updated in forever. About a month ago we went with our friends Mike and Kaitlin to Pho Saigon in Waikiki to celebrate Kaitlin getting back from teaching in Fiji. They wanted us to try either Vietnamese or Korean food so we chose the first one. We ordered spring rolls, pork chops with rice, and pho (pronounced "foo" like foot w/out the "t") with beef balls and brisket. The Holtons mixed in all the herbs and sauces for us to make the pho flavorful. We liked everything but the pho. Biting into the beef balls was a turn off for me. The texture was weird. The pho was edible but we won't order it again.

Pho

Then we stopped by McDonald's for sundaes. We always have so much fun with the Holtons! They are crazy and we are always laughing together. We'll be sad when they leave in December.

Favorite Foods

Living in Hawaii we have been introduced to some new, yummy food. First, let's start with the fruit: Açaí bowls. Açaí is a South American fruit full of antioxidants. In the açaí bowl they blend the fruit into a smoothie, top it with granola, sliced bananas, and honey. It's very refreshing and healthy; and big enough for 2 (if you wanna share).

Next, the main dish: Peanut Curry. My favorite place to get peanut curry is at Phuket Thai in Mililani. To save gas and money driving to Phuket, I bought curry paste and found a recipe on the internet. It turned out yummy, but next time I will add some peppers to make it spicy-a true Thai dish. I'm glad I can now satisfy my craving for it at home.

Last, for dessert: Chocolate Haupia Pie from Ted's Bakery in Sunset Beach. Haupia is a coconut pudding/gelatin popular here. The crust is so flaky, the chocolate so creamy, the haupia so sweet, and the whipped cream so light. It is just wonderful.

I'm so glad to have found these foods. I don't know what I'll do when we leave the island!

Happy Anniversary!

Today is our 4 year anniversary! I can't believe it has been that long already.

We have so much fun together, living in many different places and doing all sorts of things.

We try to do something special for our anniversary each year, even if it's close to home. Our first year we stayed in a fantasy suite in Rexburg, Idaho in the Emerald Lagoon Suite. It was designed to look like a jungle, complete with a waterfall into the jetted spa! It was very memorable. If you click here you can see a virtual tour of the room.

Our second year we stayed in a hotel in Salt Lake City for a night then went to Lagoon, something neither of us had done. We had a lot of fun that year too.

For our third year we were actually apart on our anniversary. Rob was in West Virginia for the week selling APX and I was in Virginia. We never got a chance to do anything before we moved to Hawaii in August so we decided living here was good enough. But in April of this year we went to the Ko'Olina resort so we counted that as a belated anniversary celebration.

For our anniversary this fourth year we celebrated by going on the North Shore Shark Adventure! It was a crazy experience. We found 8 friends to go with us and we chartered a boat to take us 3 miles off the shore of Haleiwa. As soon as we got out there, sharks surrounded the boat. It was our first time to see sharks in the wild. I'd say on average they were about 8 feet long. They don't have to chum the water to attract the sharks. The sharks hear the motor and associate it with crab boats and expect leftover bait and small crabs. Our crew threw out a few pieces of bait but not much.

In groups of 3 or 4, we climbed into a metal cage which then drifted away from the boat and the sharks swam all around us. There were probably 15-20 sharks. Rob of course was tempted to touch one and as soon as he reached his hand out to touch its side, it flipped a 180 and came back towards his arm. Don't worry, I smacked him. He didn't try it again.

The water was pretty rough on the boat so I thought I'd feel better once I got in the cage but it jostled you around more than the boat. When I got back on deck I had to run to the side but I didn't throw up. Two other girls had to sit by the side as well. On our way back to the harbor we saw a pod of spinner dolphins. It was a very fun experience. We bought the video of us in the cage so if anyone wants to see it, let me know. We've watched it a lot. It's very peaceful and cool watching the sharks interact with each other. This video and the underwater pictures are from Shanae.

We also bought new cologne and perfume as gifts for our anniversary. Rob got Lacoste Pour Homme and I got Curious by Britney Spears. I know the name might turn you off but it really does smell good. The bottle is so cute with an atomizer-I've always wanted one of those!

Rob and I still love to spend as much time together as possible and our love grows each day! We look forward to our many future adventures we'll have together!

Tahitian Dance Competition

A few weekends ago at the Polynesian Cultural Center they had a Tahitian Dance Competition. They compete according to age and gender. It was so cute to see the little 3/4 year olds shake their hips.

Happy 4th of July! (a couple weeks ago!)

This is very late but I still wanted to do it. Last year for the 4th of July we were able to be in Washington DC and watch fireworks right by the Washington Monument. It was an awesome experience. It was fun to be there with our APX friends.


This year we started out the day by going to Castle's beach with Scott & Ashlyn and John & Anne & Eden. We had fun playing in the sun.

Ashlyn and ScottThat night we went up the road to Turtle Bay Resort for the celebration. They had several tents set up with food, games, and crafts. We met up with several of our friends and played some games while we waited for the fireworks. It rained for a few minutes so we ended up watching the fireworks wet.

Me, Eden, and Anne

Eden, John, Anne (they are subleasing an apt in our complex and we became instant friends!)

The next day we went with John, Anne, and Eden to Hidden Beach. It's the furthest west point on Oahu and unless your car has good clearance you have to walk the mile and a half to it like we did. When we got there we discovered it isn't really hidden. There were several trucks and tents there so we took pics then left. We finished the day by eating at Kua'Aina. Yum!

We stopped at turtle beach on the way home and saw a nice sunset and 3 turtles on the beach.

Rob and Eden (cutie!)

Born Free

My sister Louisa put this video on Rob's facebook. I had to share it with you! It almost makes me cry and I get goosebumps when I watch it. If it interests you, I recommend a movie called "Born Free" that Rob introduced to me recently. It's an older movie but very touching and wholesome, similar story. Let me know what you think.