Monday, September 28, 2009

Aloha!

My roommate Naomi and I went to Hawaii last week. It was one of the best vacations I have been on. We ate, swam, relaxed and even went on a few adventures. It was VERY hard to come home.

We are in line at the PDX Starbucks waiting to board our plane to Hawaii. Can you see the excitement on our faces?

Naomi and I spent a lot of time at the International Market shopping. I got my bargain on...that is for sure.

There is nothing better than laying on the beach reading a good girly novel.
P.S. I would like to think there was something wrong with the lighting and the camera on this picture, and that I am not giving Edward Cullen a run for his money when it comes to coloring.

Laie Point was a blast from the past. I miss my BYUH days so much!

This is the Hukilau Cafe in Laie. It was one of our best meals and it was definitely our cheapest. I had an authentic Hawaiian Plate Lunch and it was delish!

We went on a jungle expedition at Kualoa Ranch on the North Shore. It was sooo much fun! We off roaded through the beautiful jungle where "Lost" is filmed. Our guide picked wild fruit for us and it was devine! We thought this was adventurous, we had no idea what was in store for us...

Do these mountains look familiar? They are the mountains that are in the background on "Lost".

On our Jungle Expedition we saw some of the most exquisite scenes mother nature has to offer.

One of the most exciting things we did was go skydiving on the North West Shore. It was gorgeous and at moments terrifying! The scariest part was the 15 min. plane climb and then scooting to the edge of it knowing that I was about to plummet to the ground at 120 mph. I am so glad that I did it.

The van ride to the skydiving site was just enough time for us to get a little nervous.

We eventually came to terms with the fact that we were going through with it and got on our game faces.



This is Naomi and her jumping partner. He was super nice! I heard him tell her, "I really like myself and so you do not have to worry about dying. I can't promise anything for your friend though." She told him, "That's okay because I think I owe her money." Don't worry... I got her back. I jumped first and she said watching me go was the most terrifying part of the experience for her.

Behind me is the picture of the field we landed in. The Danger sign was not just for decoration. When we were about to land I started to feel a little woozy. The last thing I remember thinking was "I do not want to vomit on my instructor". Then I woke up face down on the ground. The first thing that occured to me when I woke up was "how did I get her?" Rick, my instructor, asked me if I was okay and wiped the grass off my face. Apparently, the straps on my legs were too tight and they were near a major artery, so I was not getting enough blood to my brain. This was the first time I had ever passed out, so it was pretty surreal.


I did not realize that I had hurt my knee until I got back to the building and was paying. It didn't look so bad right then because it was covered with dirt.



Once I finally got the wound clean I could see how truly yucky it was. The first couple of peroxide sessions almost caused me to pass out again. I couldn't go in the salt water the rest of the week without shreaking in pain, which was a major bummer.

This was my instructor, Rick. I have to admit I fell in love with him a little. I guess jumping out of a plane, passing out in a man's arms, and being cared for by him, will endear him to you. I think the reason I look almost irridescent in this picture is that it was only about 10 minutes after I passed out.

We got dressed up went to Duke's to celebrate surviving skydiving.The food was so delectable that I barely noticed how much my knee was stinging.

We had an Ihop at the bottom of our hotel and were very excited to have banana pancakes. We decided to wait until the morning we were leaving, as kind of a fairwell to Hawaii. We were a little disapointed when our pancakes arrived and they were just normal pancakes with banana slices on top.

Sydney, Katie and Charlie posed begrudgingly with the necklaces I bought for them at the International Market. Audrey refused to pose for the pic.

At first Charlie look disapointed when I pulled out a necklace as his present. As soon as I told him it was a faux shark's tooth, he was totally into it. He even went to change into a "better" shirt for the picture. How cute is that?

Sydney is a girl after my own heart. She has style, flare, and grace. She had no qualms about posing for me to show off her necklace.

I snuck this picture of Audrey in her necklace. I don't understand her! If I was as beautiful as her I would be posing for pics all day long. :-)




Rory's dainty little wrist looks divine in her pink flower and turtle bracelet. I have good baby jewelery taste if I do say so myself.

6 comments:

  1. Your trip looks like it was amazing! I think we need to start planning a sister/Mom trip there soon. Good thing you have these cute nieces and nephews here to get you to come home, or we would never see you again!!

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  2. I can't believe you went sky diving. You are amazing! I am so gald you started a blog.

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  3. You have no idea how excited I was to find an email in my inbox from emslot!!! I called your number once but it wasn't yours anymore, I'm so glad you found me. And even more glad you have a blog so I can read your never ending Christmas card!

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  4. Yay. i am so jealous of your trip. I want to go.



    Cute blog. I am so excited that you are starting a blog.

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  5. I too am excited that you started a blog! Glad that you survived your skydiving experience but bummer about the knee:( Hawaii looks amazing and I would like to tag along the next time you go:) Hope your knee starts feeling better!

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  6. Great post Emily!!! I am so beyond jealous of your amazing vacation. I hope you shopped and layed out on the beach enough for the both of us...I could use a vacation :) I love the picture of Rory with her little bracelet, so cute!

    P.S.- You look beautiful in all your travel pics!

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