Aloha!!
If you guys have been keeping up with me, you know that I have been in Hawaii this past week visiting my boyfriend Sam before he deploys on May 2nd. I really went with the intention of seeing Sam, and I didn't even think about how beautiful it would be, but I have absolutely fallen in love with that place. It is literally, breathtakingly beautiful. Seeing such beautiful things made me just want to stop and thank God for everything. A week was not long enough to see/do everything I wanted to.
So, here I am in the Phoenix airport for my layover. I just stepped off of my 6 hour flight from Honolulu to Phoenix, and now I just have to board my 2 hour flight back home to Texas. I am super sad to say that it's over, and I don't get to see Sam for a long time, but 6 hours is a long time to just sit and think, and I have replayed all of the fantastic moments I had in Hawaii with him this past week, and I feel a very bittersweet happiness right now. I know that this next 9 months or so of deployment will be some of the hardest months of my life, but I also know that in the end it will be so worth it. I know that my God will help me push through this. I'm not saying that I won't have bad days and need encouragement, but I know that I can make it.
So! Enough of the sappy stuff, I just have to share some of my awesome Hawaiian stories with you guys! If you haven't ever been to Hawaii before...what are you doing reading this? Get on a plane right now and go...honestly. It is so beautiful!!
I stayed at MCBH (correct me if I'm wrong Sam) which is in Kaneohe. Which I believe is only 10-15 minutes outside of Honolulu. In order to get to Honolulu to eat or shop or anything, you have to take a drive through the hills and mountains. I really tried to take pictures, but pictures don't do it justice! I could have just ridden through the hills for hours and hours. I absolutely loved it.
One day Samuel got the brilliant idea to take a hike up a hill called KT hill. It didn't look too steep so I wasn't too concerned about it. We hiked the mile up and down this hill and were going to take a trail to the beach to spend the rest of our day there. I started to feel the heat about the time we got halfway back down KT hill. Then we still had to find the trail and walk all the way down it. Turns out, this "trail" led to NO WHERE. So, we had to walk all the way down the trail, and back again for nothing. We ended up going back to nap and then having someone drive us to the beach. Which would have been better in the first place. I'm not complaining though! It was super fun getting to spend time with Sam in the nice weather...even though my scalp is a little sunburnt now...
My favorite place that we ate on island was a little southern style restaurant called the Dixie Grill. It was so good! Just a tiny little hole in the wall barbecue place, but they had fried pickles...and you guys know I am a fan of pickles.
We also got to go shop a little bit at the Ala Moana mall, which is really cool! It's an "outdoor" mall, so you still get the beauty of Hawaii whilst shopping. We spent hours in that mall, partially because Sam likes to shop, but mostly because we forgot where we parked...hey, that place is huge!
I didn't plan on getting in the water at all, but I ended up doing it anyway. We went to Waimea Bay, (or North Shore. I get names confused) I decided to get in the FREEZING COLD WATER...oh wait, let me rephrase that. Samuel decided to THROW ME INTO THE FREEZING COLD WATER, and then my body adjusted so I was glad he did. The waves were really strong, especially for my weak body. I kept feeling like I was going to get sucked out to sea, but luckily I didn't.
All in all, it was the best week of my life, and I wish I didn't have to leave. Since I am in the airport I don't have all my camera things with me, so I can't post all of my pictures but they are coming soon. If you're interested, then get ready for some Hawaiian awesome all over your Facebook wall.
The one thing I regret about this week...not ever learning how to pronounce ANYTHING. It is so difficult to pronounce the highway names and town names.
for example:
Kamehameha...?
Likelike...(not pronounced how you'd expect)
Kaneohe...
Nu'uana...?
WHAT...
I tried so hard to pronounce things...but I just sounded like a weird mix of hillbilly Korean...
Anyway, I am glad to be coming home and seeing my family and friends. Can't wait to share more stories with everyone, and as always...Stay Excellent!
