Hawaii Part Two

Our second day in paradise we spent traveling around the island, primarily visiting all the beaches on the north side of the island. We rented a car and off we went!!! We stopped at about 4-5 beaches. Some of my favorites were Kailua, Sunset, and Turtle Bay. Each were all beautiful in their own way and we had so much fun exploring the island! We stopped at this beautiful park for lunch and also went to the Macadamia Nut Farm. DELICIOUS!!!!! We became pro's at sample tasting :):) On our way back we had a chance to drive by the gorgeous Laie Temple and stopped at a cute pizza shop for dinner in a small town on the north shore. It was a ton of driving and we were exhausted from all the traveling that day, but it was so worth it! Grateful we had Libbi as our tour guide ;)

I LOVED the mountains!!! They were so green.

Kailua Beach with Niki

Libbi and I

YUMMY!!!

Turtle Bay

Sunset Beach

Loved the Turtles!!! They were huge.

HAWAIIN SUNSETS <3

Laie, HI Temple

Hawaiian Adventures: Part One (Very Delayed Post)

So I know I have already posted a brief summary of my trip to Hawaii, but this post is more of a complete journal of the trip for me since I struggle with keeping an updated journal :) Don't feel like you have to read this because it may be one of the longest written posts known to man hahaha. I think about my time in Hawaii so much and I want to remember all of the little details and moments I experienced. It was definitely the trip of a lifetime! I hope to return there some day soon.

I went to the beautiful island of O'ahu to stay with my cousin Libbi for 2 weeks. I was so fortunate to have the BEST travel buddy anyone could ask for Nikita Krebs!! I grew up with this girl dancing and eventually becoming roomates with her. Our families are both very close and we have so much fun together! Our trip was from April 22-May 6. 2 WHOLE WEEKS IN PARADISE!!! I owe so much to my family for allowing me to go on this trip as a graduation present. It really was surreal.

So Nikita and I started our trip with 2 really long plane rides.... we traveled from SLC-Vegas and then from there Vegas-Honolulu. I am really proud to say that I got super cheap tickets, but with that came the price of traveling at really strange hours of the day. We flew into Vegas around 9 p.m. and then our next flight didn't leave till 1:40 a.m. (Vegas time) To be honest, I was really nervous to travel. I hadn't been on a plane since I was like 9 and most certainly have never gone through an airport by myself. Me and Nikita are officially pro's now :) We tackled the SLC airport easy and had so much fun exploring it as you can tell ;)

Vegas..... well that was another story! We got so lost and by the time we got there, there were no places to buy food or drinks. They also happened to break the handle on my luggage so I couldn't pull the lever out to wheel it around so that not only made me look silly, but really was a workout to haul my luggage around! (a little side note, but a huge accomplishment of the trip was fitting 2 weeks worth of clothes in one suitcase! not only that, but having enough room to bring home souvenirs was also a miracle!)

Enough with the sad story, but we survived! Me and Nikita laughed so hard waiting for our flight to Hawaii.... while trying to board the plane, the workers were trying to clear a pathway and would get on the intercom and be like "Please move, Mahalo!" like every 20 seconds because no one would listen. Too funny.... what happens late at night ;)

The plane ride was one of the longest things ever! 6 hours long... we were both exhausted and could hardly sleep because it was freezing cold, the seats were uncomfortable, Nikita was motion sick, and my ears were killing me with the altitude change. It was the best feeling ever to hear them say we had landed! We flew into Hawaii at about 5 am their time. The shuttle that was supposed to pick us up didn't show so we ended up getting in this random guy's van.... oh we are naive! haha jk but this guy was very nice and gave us a great deal! Libbi was so excited to see us, but we were so tired we had to get a couple hours of sleep in first before we began all the fun! So yes the first thing we did was sleep! It was raining when we got there so we didn't miss too much :)

The view from Libbi's apartment

After we got all settled, we all went out to lunch and Libbi showed us around so when she had to work, we didn't get too lost ;) ha. Libbi lives in an apartment right downtown in Waikiki! It's about a ten minute walk from the beach and all the shopping centers. I loved the atmosphere of Hawaii! It had the city life that I love, but also had such beautiful sites with the ocean and the green luscious trees and mountains. Definitely the best of both worlds! There was always something going on when you would walk down the street and everyone was so friendly and nice. By the end of our trip some people thought Nikita and I were locals :) The cool thing about Hawaii was that all the beaches were public. There were so many hotels along the beach and the hotels seemed like shopping centers! They were so open to everyone that you could browse the stores in them as well as sneak into the hot tubs haha. It was so fun! And everything was so beautiful there. I was just blown away by how nice and clean it was there. I always joke that if I was every going to be homeless that that would be the place! Libbi would say that some of the things on her daily to do list would be to go to the beach, hang by the hot tub, and go out to eat and watch the sunset.... like how unreal and awesome is that????? We definitely had the time of our lives doing things she does on a daily basis!

HAPPY

As I look back on the past year, I am just in awe.... SO MUCH HAS CHANGED!!!!! And I am definitely a better and stronger person because of it. I had a patient at work today ask when I graduated school and I told him last April and he's like so almost a year now? And I thought to myself, "HAS IT ALREADY BEEN A YEAR?!"

In about a years time I went from being a nursing student, bottom of the totem pole, being told I wasn't good enough, to proving I could do anything I set my mind to.... I now am a Registered Nurse working at a HOSPITAL in LOGAN, UT and I actually have worked as the charge nurse on the floor that I work a few times. All in just a year's time. I definitely have worked very hard to get where I am, but I know without a doubt that God was with me every step of the way providing a way for me to accomplish my dreams. Of course this is not what I had originally planned, but I know that my Heavenly Father knew what was best for me and helped change and shape the desires of my heart. I have learned and grown so much and I wouldn't change my trials and hardships. I have so much to be grateful for!!!

One of my latest life lessons I've learned is to let go of some of my perfectionist ways.... I had just envisioned college to prepare me to be an expert in the career I wanted to go to. I expected that when I started working at a "big girl job" that I would just be a master at everything and would be all knowing. Boy was I wrong!! Yeah school helps prepare you, but I have learned so much more actually being in the workforce and actually doing it!! Yes, it has been extremely difficult and challenging having to learn it at a job full of long hours, a heavy workload, and a stressful environment, but I have learned so much about time and stress management and how to prioritze so much better! I also am learning to not overdue it. Afterall, nurses have to take breaks sometime :) What can I say... the hospital has been very good to me. I'm grateful for great co-workers who are so patient and willing to help me learn!

My brother is currently on a mission in Tampa, Florida and has been out a little over a month now!!! SO CRAZY!!!! I am so happy for him even though I miss him like crazy. I can't wait to see the man he grows into. The people of Florida are lucky to have him :)

Other than that, I finally was lucky enough to move out to Logan into a townhouse right by campus and am loving it!! I didn't know any of my roomates when I moved in, which I was kind of nervous about, but last time I did that, I met one of my best friends so I figured it was worth a shot! So far all of my roomates are really great!! We all are very different, but we connect very well and I can tell we are going to have a lot of fun! I hope to be very active in my singles ward and well as hanging out with my roomates and meeting new people! I need to work on that anyway because people are stressing the whole marriage thing on me.... hahaha I've got 2 bouquets now at weddings and people think that's a sign..... :) We shall see hahaha. At work people either ask me if I'm old enough to be their nurse or how many kids I have so I just don't know which area of life I am in ;)

For now I am just living day to day happy with all that I am blessed with and looking for new adventures that may come my way!