Bring on the Bling

Saturday, May 23, 2015

An Excuse For Paradise


One thing about my job/workplace that I love is how close I've become with the people I work with. I think it's natural, because these are the people that I spend most of my time with...and thank goodness we all get along, otherwise life would be horrible. Jane started talking about possibly having a destination wedding in Hawaii, and I thought it sounded romantic and was supportive from the start. Her big worry was that nobody would be able to come if it was far away. I told her that if she gave people (me) enough notice to plan and save, people (I) would go. A few months later, Nikki and I were boarding a plane, destination: Maui!

Get ready for photo overload!!

At the SLC airport with our leis that my new coworker Amanda got us...so awesome!

Customary selfie in the SFO airport, waiting for our connection to Maui!

Dinner at Kimo's...I had the Opakapaka and Nikki had the Mahi Mahi

Love taking pictures of the reflection from my glasses...sunset in Lahaina

Trying out my new Chacos

View from Grandma's condo in Kihei

3am bike/equipment fitting for our sunrise bike journey down Haleakala

Shuttle ride up to the sunrise



40* and windy at the summit...almost sunrise!

Listened to a native Hawaiian lady chant in a blessing with the sunrise

Only one of a few pictures I took...sometimes it's best to just enjoy an event, rather than watching it through/in a little screen

Beautiful

"It is better to see something once than to hear about it a thousand times."

Not too shabby for a 1:30am wakeup call...


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"To those who can dream, there is no such place as FAR AWAY."

22+ miles...here we come!

Mud-splashed face...

Arrived at the wedding site just a few hours after making it down the volcano!


I can stare at palm trees all day long.

Instead of throwing rice or blowing bubbles, we had these cute little sticks with bells to ring!

Love the "Just Maui'd" sign!

Love these two! Congrats Jin and Jane!

Beautiful wedding, perfect location, gorgeous weather, kickin' music (and yes, I was the MC) = friends forever



Molokini crater in the distance...

Seriously? This picture isn't doctored up at all...this is what we saw all wedding long!

Cute place settings for dinner
The Group

First dance to Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud"



Heading out on Sunday night to Molokai for 3 days

On the ferry to Molokai

Sunrise from our sail boat on Molokai

Collecting plumerias at the Plumeria Farm



So pretty!

Making our own leis


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Post-a-Nut...decorate a coconut for free and then ship it anywhere...just pay for the shipping!

Crafternoon...Hawaiian style


Halawa Valley, Molokai...so beautiful and where they filmed part of Jurassic Park

Halawa Valley

Our living quarters on Molokai

Part of our stay included spending about 30 minutes/day helping to work on the boat...

...so we sanded and got to work!

We hiked down the tallest sea cliffs in the world to the Leper Colony in Kalaupapa...

Over 1,600 feet tall...

...through a tropical rainforest...

...with 26 switchbacks and TONS of stairs...and so yes, my hips were done by the end of it!

But we did it!! And made it down first...

Our lovely tour bus of the Leper Colony and peninsula

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Isn't it just gorg?

Norman, our awesome tour guide!

Another view of the cliffs from the harbor


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You can't tell, but I have 2 blisters on each foot arch, am bleeding from a few places, and am covered in mud...worth it!

Cute little church that Father Damien built in Kalaupapa...complete with an Irish pastor...who said Aloha in his cute Irish accent...

Another place where Jurassic Park was filmed...and I was scared that the dinosaurs were coming...

Can't beat this view

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Finished! "Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt."



Twin Falls on the Hana Highway

I do believe it's breakfast time! Fresh pineapple and coconut water!

Had to stop for the rainbow eucalyptus trees on the Hana Highway 

Found a blowhole on the Hana Highway

Caves at the black sand beach


Black sand beach on the Hana Highway


Black sand beach...and you can see how messed up my feet are after the hike...

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Ululani's shave ice...yes please!

We might have ended up off-roading around the backside of Haleakala for almost 3 hours...along the cliffs...on a 1 way road...surrounded by roaming cattle...
Lava flows on the southernmost part of Maui...so awesome!
Breakfast consisted of mango, guava, and pineapple...yum!


After our first dive in Molokini


Loving Molokini!


Underwater selfie!

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No real way to smile while breathing underwater...
Moment of panic right before I dropped...thank goodness no sharks came!

Final meal on Maui at Eskimo Candy

Didn't sleep much on the planes...so we caught some ZZZs in SFO

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