Happy Holidays!

I deserve a big fat "F" when it comes to blogging this month!

Since December 1st we have been working on situating things in the house, decorating for Christmas, going to Christmas parties and just taking it easy in College Station. (Above is a picture of part of our Christmas tree and the quilt hanging in our new house in CS.)
Last week we drove to Dallas, spent the night in Allen, then flew up to the Panhandle the next morning for Christmas!  Wednesday Mary Alice flew up and we headed straight to the Coney Island for lunch. We had a WHITE Christmas Eve and Christmas in Pampa! I was so thankful it didn't keep on snowing like it used to in NH. :) We attended Christmas Eve services at church, then had several family friends over for our traditional tamale Christmas Eve dinner. The next morning we exchanged gifts, had a big Christmas meal (including cheesy spaghetti) and enjoyed some much needed family time. Eeeaaarrrlllyyy the next morning Zac, Mary Alice and I all flew back to Dallas - and then MA on to Austin. It was soooo nice to be home. CLICK HERE for pictures from Christmas.
Once in Dallas, Zac and I had Christmas with the Elliott side of the family in Carrollton. We had fun with everyone. Beth and Neal even stayed the night at Zac's parents' house with us and we all had a waffle breakfast the next morning. Afterwards we headed back down to College Station. Zac's friend Court and his girlfriend, Nikki, came over to catch up and see the house. Shortly after that, Zac's parents, Steve and Kay, arrived to also see the house and stay the night with us.
We have had a very fun week, and are looking forward to New Years! I think that one of my New Year's resolutions should be to blog more often. :) What do you think?
Hope everyone had a very mele kalikimaka!
Me ke aloha,
RAWE

Moving In!

Aloha and howdy! Last night was our first night in our new house. While we are still sleeping on an air mattress on the floor, it still felt nice to be in our very own home! But we do have heat and water. :)
We have been going through the house finding every little thing possible for the builder to fix and the painter to touch-up. Later this week our "stuff" from Hawaii will arrive, which will mean we will be unpacking and organizing all weekend long! And yesterday we started running to Wal-Mart, Target and Bed Bath and Beyond (twice) getting things for the house. I'm sure we will be making more trips to those stores in the future, as well.
Zac has been enjoying his new job at TAMU, and has his very own office in the Trigon. He hasn't had a crazy busy schedule like we are used to, but it is nice for him to be able to relax! His Jeep also arrived last week, so I am enjoying not taking him to and from work every day. :)
I am ready for Aidan to join us at the house. Mom and Dad will bring him down in January, when they bring some things to us from Pampa and meet us and MA here in College Station for a basketball game. I will get to see him again over Christmas break, when we go to Pampa. This is a picture of him with Baby Meranda that we took in Austin.

I am going to go get my hair cut now! And we should have internet again on Friday (hooray)!!
Until then, me ke aloha,
RAWE

Happy Thanksgiving! Now...let's play catch up.

Happy Thanksgiving! 

I hope that you have had time to think about each and every thing/person that you are thankful for! I am thankful for family, friends, our health, the Great State of Texas and for the fact that we will only be "homeless" for a couple more days!
Since arriving on the mainland we have been very busy! We arrived in Dallas and tried to adjust to the fun time change. :)

I got to meet my "niece", Meranda, for the first time! She is soooo precious. She was very well behaved, gave us a tour of her cute house and even posed for some pictures with her mom and Aunties. CLICK HERE to see the pictures. Later that night we had a happy hour and dinner get together at the Iron Cactus, and got to see a lot of our friends! That afternoon/evening Zac drove up to Gainesville to pick up my new car! (I have a wonderful husband.) We are now the proud owner of a (red) Jeep Grand Cherokee. :)  Saturday we had an Elliott/Hacker/Cockrum family get-together at Zac's grandparents' house and then Sunday we went to see "ICE!" at the Gaylord Texan. CLICK HERE for all of those pics.
Sunday night we checked in to our hotel in College Station, and Monday we met with our realtor, Ashley, to look at homes there. She was super organized, and we saw 20+ homes that day! Whew - they were all starting to run together. But, we did find the PERFECT one for us, and we got it! We are now in the process of filling out paperwork and waiting to close. We will be able to move in next week! More on the house later, when we actually get to move in!! We are so excited to be first-time homeowners!!

Wednesday we ran errands and had some surprise visitors for dinner! Mary, Kaylie and Carter were in town for an archery thingy and met us at Pei Wei! This was my first time to meet baby Carter, who is perfect and already tall (go figure!). Kaylie made me laugh throughout the entire meal (she is so smart and clever), and even "read me her fortune from her fortune cookie. She said that her fortune said "You do not have to pick up your toys!" - what a great/perfect fortune for her! (She is so funny!) After dinner Zac and I went to the 10th anniversary Bonfire Remembrance at Reed Arena. I can't believe it has already been ten years since the stack fell. The Remembrance was a great way to honor the lives that were lost that day. We will ALWAYS remember them.

HAPPY 25th BIRTHDAY, SISTER! Thursday I drove to Austin to spend Mary Alice's birthday with her. We shopped around, hung out at her cute cute house and went to dinner with her roomie, Jessica, and our cousin, Emily at Z'Tejas! Friday I drove back to CS so that Zac and I could go to Yell with some of Zac's new coworkers.
Then, Saturday was Mom's and Zac's birthday! (November is a popular time to be born!) Zac and I got up and spent the morning walking around campus meeting some of the students he is advising and watched the game day activities on campus. We met Cameron and Michelle and their baby, Nathan, for the game against Baylor.

That was our first time to meet Nathan, who is sooo cute and well behaved. The weather was a little drizzly and rainy, but the game was fun! Afterwards we met Beth and Brent up at Northgate for an evening of reliving our college days. So many things have changed in Aggieland! It is so nice to live in a town that I know something about. I haven't needed to look up any directions just yet. Sunday we watched the Cowboy football game with Zac's friend, Blake. HERE are some pictures of that weekend.
Tuesday Mom, Dad, MA and Aidan came to College Station to see our new house. It had been almost a year since I had seen my puppy - but he remembered me! I have missed him soo soo much. We had lunch with Zac, shopped for a fridge and then headed to Austin. That night we met up with the Buntons/Georges for dinner. I have missed my family, and really enjoyed being with everyone. We stayed at my cousin Emily and her husband Jonathan's home, which is beautiful, and they were the perfect hosts. Wednesday we got to have breakfast with Mandy and Meranda :) , then shopped for Christmas decos for MA's house and started putting up some of her Christmas lights. That night we had our Bunton/George/Elliott Thanksgiving dinner at Emily's house. The food was amazing - including the awesome fried turkey that Jonny (assisted by Z) made. CLICK HERE for pics (from Austin and Dallas Thanksgivings).

Finally, caught up to today... We woke up this morning and drove to Dallas to have Thanksgiving dinner with the Elliott extended family. We went to Zac's cousins' new house in The Colony for a lovely (and delicious) dinner. Matt and Ashley were excellent hosts, and we all (again) ate way too much.  Tonight we watched our Aggies play t.u. in a good game. We put up a great fight, Aggies! WHOOP!
And now, we are caught up. :) Sorry for the gap in posting - I will do better in the days to come.
Me ke aloha,
Rebekah

We're BBBAAAAACCCCKKK!!

ALOHA, TEXAS! We arrived back in The Great State of Texas this week, after a long flight and dealing with some really annoying and rude American Airlines people. The flight was fine, and we are still struggling with the time change, but soon we will be back on central time.

Zac and I spent our last three days in Hawaii on the island of Kauai. We had an amazing time seeing the sights and relaxing before our big move. Our first day there we drove to Kauai Coffee and Waimea Canyon (the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific"), then we went to dinner at Duke's at the Marriott. The next morning we took a helicopter tour of the island - SUCH an awesome way to see the entire island. We were fortunate to be able to stay in a beautiful timeshare at the Westin Princeville. Our last day we kayaked up the Wailua River, then hiked to Secret Falls and swam under the falls. The trail was SUPER muddy, but it was a fun adventure. We absolutely loved our last little Hawaiian island hop trip. CLICK HERE for all of our pictures, and CLICK HERE for a few videos I took there. :)

We have already had a fun two days here in Texas, and I will tell you more about those verrry soon!

Until then, me ke aloha,
RAWE

Halloween/Completely moved out

Aloha!
This weekend Zac and I went to a costume party at Steve and Marisol's house. They completely out did themselves with decorations, fabulous food and even games with prizes! We had such a great time. We recycled our Barney and Betty Rubble costumes, since we have been so busy with the move. This is what we looked like, if you haven't already seen. :)

Friday a moving company also came to get the rest of our stuff that we had at the house. This is what the living room looked like before...

It only took the movers 25 minutes to pack all of this and finish the paperwork. I know it isn't that much, but I was amazed! And yesterday we completely cleaned and left our beautiful Hawaiian home. I was so sad. Here is a sunset picture to remind us all of the beautiful days and nights we witnessed there.

We also sold my car this week. So, here is the last picture of me in it right before we dropped it off. It was such a great car!

So, we accomplished a lot this week, moving-wise, and we are that many steps closer to living in Texas!

Me ke aloha,

RAWE

Kay and Steve visit Hawaii! - and Zac's Wardroom Farewell

Aloha! About two weeks ago Kay and Steve flew out to Oahu to spend a few days with us. We saw the USS Arizona, Punchbowl and had some great meals with them. That Saturday they left for a seven day cruise on NCL to see Maui, Kauai, the big island and then back to Oahu. They said that they had a marvelous and relaxing time on the cruise, and that the ship, islands and experience was great. They spent a couple more days here on Oahu with us before heading home, and we went to the North Shore, snorkeling at Hanauma Bay, 'Iolani Palace and of course did a little shopping. ;) We had so much fun being with them and we hope that they had a great vacation! We love you guys!
Click HERE for the pictures that I took from their trip!

Also, this weekend was Zac's (and Jason Downs') farewell with the wardroom of the USS Louisville. We all got together at the Simsic's house to tell funny stories about the guys and their time on the boat. Zac and I could not believe that it was actually time for his farewell. We have had such an incredible time and experience with these families, and will miss them all so very much.
Click HERE for the pictures from the party!

We have had a very busy past two weeks, but we are really enjoying our last few days on this beautiful island with some of the people that we love.

Me ke aloha,
RAWE

Hawaiian Portraits

We have SO enjoyed our time in Hawaii, and wanted to remember the beautiful surroundings with some professional photographs. The other night our sweet and very talented friend, Audra, took some pictures of us on Secret Beach on the North Shore. Here is a link to her blog, where you can see the four preview shots she posted. We hope you love them as much as we do!

http://simplesoulphotography.blogspot.com/

*If you are checking this a while after my blog post, you may need to scroll through her blog to see them.*

Me ke aloha,

RAWE

Hawaiian Pack-out

Today the movers came and packed ALL of our household goods. We are now living with an aerobed, two beach chairs, our clothes, coffee maker, microwave and a few dishes. Doesn't that sound glamorous? It totally is.

I loved how our movers improvised and sent the boxes down the two flights of stairs! Here is a video of the sliders.

We also made a lot of travel arrangements today. So, if you have questions about dates and locations of when we will be where, just ask!

Love to all - me ke aloha,

RAWE

Beth's Second Trip to HI!

Aloha!

This past week Beth came back to visit us here in HI. :)

We did a lot of hiking and saw a few of the sights that we missed her first time out in July. I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I should have, but HERE IS A LINK to the pictures from her trip (from my camera). For more pics, see FB.

We hiked Manoa Falls and Kuli'ou'ou Ridge/Valley Trails, if you would like to see where they are. When we hiked Manoa Falls, it was POURING RAIN, but that made it much more adventurous. The Kuli'ou'ou Ridge Trail was a BEATING, since we went the wrong way at the beginning, were literally followed by clouds of mosquitos (whose bites I am STILL recovering from) and didn't pack enough food and water to sustain our thirst and hunger! We were hiking for over four hours, and I burned over 1500 calories (yes, seriously - thank you heart rate monitor for reminding me how hard I worked). AND, we all fell at least twice. And not just little falls, but really hard falls. Needless to say, I complained a LOT about how much fun I was NOT having. :) I wouldn't really recommend that trail for novice hikers. And trust me, I will NOT be doing it again before our move.

Wed. we went snorkeling at Hanauma Bay (finally got to park there thanks to a lot less tourists being here)! Afterwards we went to Kaimuki for lunch at Big City Diner. Since living here, I have wanted to try "loco moco", a favorite Hawaiian food specialty. What is "loco moco" you may ask? Loco Moco = bed of white rice, with a hamburger patty topped with sauteed onions, a fried egg and brown gravy! I know that it may sound strange to you, but we really liked it! So, if you are here in Hawaii, TRY IT!

Me ke aloha,

RAWE

Becky and Janie visit HI!

Aloha!!

This past week Becky and Janie came out to Hawaii to explore the island and visit me! We had so much fun at Doris Duke's, the PCC, the swap meet, the North Shore and seeing so many Oahu sights.

CLICK HERE to see the pictures of some of our adventures.

We even found several Aloha shirts to makes some Hawaiian quilts with. :)

I am so blessed to have them in my life!

Me ke aloha,

RAWE

Aloha Shirts

THIS is my new muumuu.

I got it yesterday while shopping for these...

I've been shopping for Aloha shirts to make a Hawaiian quilt (someday). This is the stash Becky, Janie and I found at the Salvation Army in Kailua (and some from Kaimuki). :) Aren't they fun?

Me ke aloha,

RAWE

Andrea and Justin's visit to HI!

Aloha! Last weekend my friend Andrea and her husband Justin came to Honolulu to visit! :) We explored Waikiki, went to Pearl Harbor and Lanikai beach, watched the Cowboys game (sad they lost) in Kailua, tried a Japanese restaurant we had never been to, and went to the

Polynesian Cultural Center - all during the first three days they were on the island. Then they island hopped over to Kauai for the next four days (and did zip lines and a helicopter tour!). Yesterday they came back to Oahu. After I picked them up from the airport, we went up to the North Shore to watch some surfing (since the waves were so high) and had dinner at a shrimp truck followed by Menchie's for dessert. Today we spent the morning shopping at the swap meet, had lunch in Haliewa at Kono's, then made our way through the Dole Plantation maze (the largest in the world!). I had so much fun while they were here, and was sad to take them back to the airport this evening - and was even plotting ways to keep them here. :)

CLICK HERE to see the pictures from their trip that I took.

CLICK HERE to see the video I shot today at the Dole Plantation maze. :)

Me ke aloha,

RAWE

The Peanut (aka Meranda) is HERE!!!

This afternoon Meranda made her grand entrance into the world! She was 19 inches long and weighed 6 lbs 13 oz!!

She is welcomed by parents Mandy and Josh, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends and two VERY proud Aunties, Beth and ME! :)

WAY TO GO MANDY FOR ALL OF YOUR HARD WORK TODAY! And I trust that you will fill us in on all of the gory details later. (But maybe in private.) ;) But for now, get some little naps in while you can and re-charge.

Today I wanted more than ever to be in Texas. More specifically, to be in Fort Worth, with the rest of the Cozart clan and friends to see baby Meranda on her BIRTHday. For me, the hardest thing about being married to the Navy is the distance from our family and friends. Not being able to be with everyone for important life events is so difficult! So today was a hard day.

I can not WAIT until I can hold baby Meranda in my arms and see her in person. I am going to hog her and keep her all to myself. :)

What a beautiful day to be born! Welcome to the world, Meranda! We already love you oh so very much.

CLICK HERE to see Meranda's hiccups - sooo precious!

To see a video of the baby sleeping, CLICK HERE!

Me ke aloha,

RAWE

Our Second Anniversary

Happy second anniversary to us (Tuesday, the 22nd)! I can not believe that we have already been married for two years. While Zac has been gone for a lot of those two years, we have made some incredible memories together. I can not wait for the next years to come! We have had so much fun. We are incredibly blessed.

Me ke aloha,

RAWE

What the heck is a diaper stacker?

Since so many of my friends have been pregnant and having precious babies lately, I have been learning a LOT about being pregnant and everything that comes with that. I have learned (some of) what not to eat, what not to drink, what certain gadgets do, the list goes on and on...

One of the things I learned a while back is what a diaper stacker is! I had never heard of such a thing before. A few weeks ago I made a "prototype" of a diaper stacker just to see if I could do it. And recently, I made this diaper stacker for Mandy's baby's nursery. :)

Isn't it cute!?

Now Mandy will have diapers readily available for Meranda's changings. :) Stack away!

Me ke aloha,

RAWE

Finishing Projects

Hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend! I finished three projects, so it was a successful one for me.

First, a baby quilt for Nathan Clark, quilted by Donna Francis in a CUTE frog pattern. There are frogs in the white striped fabric.

Front:

Back:

Quilting detail:

Can you see the frogs? Some are jumping, some just sitting there looking cute. I love it!

I also finished a changing pad and burp cloths for baby Carter Hamm (finally - I am a slacker), but I'm not going to post those pics because I know that Mary will read this and see them, and I want it to be a surprise. So Mary, be looking for a package!

The final project I finished was a diaper stacker for baby Meranda. I have to get some black grosgrain ribbon to make the ties, so I will post pictures of it tomorrow, when it is totally complete. :)

Now, I have eight more baby projects to go...so I'll be sewing away this week if you need me!

Me ke aloha,

RAWE

Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love. Girl doesn't.

Tonight my friend Marisol and I went to the Dole Theater to see "(500) Days of Summer".

I had heard such good things about this movie from my friends Beth and Brett, so I had very high expectations going in to see the film. And I can gladly report that my expectations were definitely met, if not exceeded!

The movie has a great way of telling the story in an off-beat way. I don't want to give away too much of the movie, so just go and see it (if you haven't already)!

Joseph Gordon-Levitt does an amazing job and completely embodies the character of Tom. Zooey Deschanel is impossible NOT to fall in love with in the film. But, just like Marisol said as we were walking out of the theater, this movie just goes to show why guys sometimes seem to be SO CONFUSED about women. Poor guys, we do make it so incredibly difficult for you at times. And for this, I apologize.

I kept trying to determine if I was "Tom" or "Summer". I have to say that I have been both at different points in my lifetime. :) (Curious? Go see it and then you will know!)

On a side note, the people that were at the same showing with us tonight were NOT laugh-out-louders! Marisol and I kept laughing out loud at parts that were obviously funny, but sometimes, we were the only ones! Why? It really was funny, people! Laugh! We didn't even have drinks before the movie - we just sincerely thought it was funny, so we laughed out loud. The laughs were well deserved. None of those people should be using the acronym "LOL", because they didn't. Sad for them.

Go see it before it is out of the theaters, or go right now and add it to your Netflix queue.

Yay for a great movie with a great friend!

Me ke aloha,

RAWE

PS - "He's some guy she met at the gym with Brad Pitt's face and Jesus' abs." LOL

Elliott/McArthur cousins' visit to Hawaii!

Aloha! After my parents flew back to Texas, I was hit by some sickness that seems to be going around. So for 5 days I was laid up here at the hale, with fever, headaches, coughing, the works. :( It was horrible. But, luckily I recovered in time to have a GREAT time with Lauren, Brittany and Drake!

I picked the cousins up from the airport last Mon., and embarked on a week FULL of fun! We lucked out, and Zac was actually in town the entire week that they were here! We were all so thankful for that.

Mon. afternoon we relaxed on Lanikai beach, then met Zac for dinner; Tuesday we went to Pearl Harbor; Wednesday we went to the swap meet; Thursday we went horseback riding on the North Shore; Friday we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center; Saturday we walked around Waikiki and then went horseback riding on the North Shore; Sunday we tried to snorkel, but ended up just going to Bellows Air Force Station beach; Monday we explored the North Shore and yesterday (Tues.) we just went to lunch and then to the airport. What a whirlwind week of so much fun!

Horseback riding and surfing were definitely interesting adventures! These were two things I hadn't yet done in HI. The horse lady was very stern (or you could say rude) with us, but it was still so awesome to ride on the beach and in the water. And she let us run the horses, which got the heart pumping! Our surf lesson was in Hawaii Kai, and the instructors took us in a boat out to the wave break area. It was nice to not have to swim soo far out into the ocean! After some practice of getting on our knees and then standing on the boards, we got to try some real waves. I stood up on my first wave, and all 6 after that! I was really surprised. It was sooo much fun. I hope to surf again before I leave the island. Lauren kicked wana (sea urchin) and Drake cut his toes on the coral, but all in all, we had a successful surfing lesson.

CLICK HERE for all of the pictures that I took throughout the week!

Me ke aloha,

RAWE

Mom and Dad's visit to Hawaii!

ALOHA! Earlier this month Mom and Dad visited Zac and me here in Hawaii. Luckily Zac was in town, so he got to spend time with us, which we all cherished. We had a very busy week seeing Doris Duke's Shangri La, Pearl Harbor, the PCC, Waikiki, some spots on the UH campus, and we even island hopped to Maui for the weekend! I was so glad that they were able to fly over and spend some time here with us. Here is a link to the pictures from our amazing week!

CLICK HERE FOR THE PICTURES!!

Me ke aloha,

RAWE

Beach Trip 2009!

Every year a group of my girl friends all get together and take a beach vacation. This year, our 4th year of traveling together, the girls came out to Hawaii to visit me, and take advantage of all of the beaches here!

Mai, Teal and Beth arrived last week, and were here for an action-packed week-full-of fun! Here is a run down of what we did each day (thanks to Beth, who writes in her travel journal!):

July 22

Arrival

Went to Kailua Beach park - with other USS Louisville Families

Dinner - Pauoa Chop Suey - finally got to try the little restaurant at the bottom of our mountain!

Amuse Wine Bar - where the girls were trying sooo hard to stay awake!

July 23

Hiked Diamond Head - sooo stinking hot!

Lunch @ Kona Brewery Company in Hawaii Kai

Drove around Pearl Harbor & Hickam Air Force Base

July 24

Pearl Harbor - USS Bowfin & USS Arizona Memorial

Lunch @ Dixie Grill

Bellows Beach @ Bellows Air Force Station, Waimanalo, HI

Dinner @ Duke's, where we had some Mai Tais and amazing fish!

July 25

Dole Plantation - felt like kids again :)

North Shore - Ehukai Beach (where the pipeline is, but during the winter)

Sea Turtles @ "Turtle" Beach

Matsumoto Shaved Ice - waited in a looong line to try the historic shaved ice!

Dinner @ Formaggio in Kailua - mmmm.

July 26

Early morning flight to Kaua'i - with the awesome Hawaiian Airlines juice!

Breakfast @ Oki Diner - sketchy Hawaiian diner? yes.

Wailua Falls

Lava Rocks near Po'ipu - south shore Kauai

Waimea Canyon

Lunch @ The Grove Cafe (I think is what the Waimea Brewery Company is called now)

Lithified Cliffs at Maha'ulepu to Shipwreck Beach - south shore

Dinner @ Trees Lounge

July 27

(Still on Kauai)

Breakfast @ Eggbert's

Kilauea Lighthouse

Hanalei Lookout

Kalalau Trail/Hike - along the Na Pali coast!

Hanalei Bay

Lunch @ Bubba's Burgers

Flight back to O'ahu - more yummy Hawaiian Airlines juice!

Dinner @ Wahoo's! Mmmm fish (shrimp) tacos!

July 28

Saw Chinaman's Hat (island) on the way to the Polynesian Cultural Center

Polynesian Cultural Center - visited the villages throughout the afternoon, and did their luau and new show that night! :)

July 29

Swap Meet @ Aloha Stadium

Lunch @ Boardrider's in Kailua

Lanikai Beach with our blow up Honu, which we named Harry

Dinner @ Kau 'Aina

Fro Yo @ Menchie's

Flight back to the mainland

We had such an amazing (and exhausting) week of sight seeing fun! I look forward to our girls' beach tips EVERY year, and I missed the ladies that didn't come this year! But, we will start planning for NEXT year's trip.

We took over 1500 pictures (seriously), so slowly, I am uploading them all HERE, so click to enjoy all of them! :)

Here's to great friends,

RAWE

We're moving! (Yes, again.)

It is with the greatest pleasure that I announce that we are moving TO COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS!!! (Can I get a whoop?) 

We found out yesterday morning, via an e-mail from Z's detailer, that he has been selected for the open Navy ROTC job at A&M! He will be teaching Naval Science, as well as other duties, I am sure. 

We will most likely be moving some time in November of this year, and we *think* that Zac's job will begin sometime in December.

We are sooo thrilled to be moving back to the Great State, and close to many of those that we hold dear!

Me ke aloha,

RAWE

Doris Duke's Shangri La

This morning I was able to tag along with some friends to tour the Hawaii home of Doris Duke. I had never heard of Doris Duke before, so let me share a little history with you!Doris was a multi million dollar heiress at age 13, when she inherited her wealth from her father's tobacco and hydroelectric energy empires upon his death. She married James Cromwell in 1935, who took her on an around-the-world honeymoon trip. The honeymoon sparked her interest in art, especially Islamic art, and she began purchasing pieces along their journey. The last stop on their honeymoon was Oahu, Hawaii. What was supposed to be a couple of weeks' stay here ended up being four months! She fell in love with the islands, culture and laid-back attitude. Here in HI she wasn't treated as a celebrity like she was on the mainland. She quickly purchased five acres of land on the south east coast of Oahu (Kahala area) and began planning her Shangri La. By 1937 construction had begun, and while the building itself was completed a few years later, she continued collecting art for her Shangri La until her death in 1993. 

We took the Honolulu Academy of Arts' tour - the only way to see the property. They bus you out to the home, and you are guided through by a docent. Our tour guide was Marilyn, who was so cute and informative! Pictures aren't allowed inside the home, but I did take some of the exterior. 

This is a shot from the backyard - and you can see the kids/public who are there jumping off of the wall into the water. All beaches in Hawaii are public, so anyone can walk/hike over to the area. Some highlights of the tour: the glass wall in the living room descends into the floor to open the room up to the outside, tons of beautiful patterns, thousands of intricate tiles and textiles, sliding jalis (screens in front of windows) that were carved out of different materials that also opened up to outside, fountains, gardens and the smiling camels that greet you at the front door. The camels were once in front of a store in Waikiki. When Doris drove by and saw them one day, she decided to buy them and have them at the entrance to the home, even though they weren't really Islamic! Oh, and when Doris was not allowed to return to the island after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, she allowed military access to the property, so officers were allowed R & R there. :)

CLICK HERE for my (outside) pictures from today.

CLICK HERE for the website of the property - where you can see interior shots and do a virtual tour (but it doesn't do it justice!)

So yes, this tour was amazing (if you love art and pattern), and I highly recommend it for anyone who visits Honolulu! I learned a lot today, and once again remember why I love living here so much!:)

Me ke aloha,

RAWE

tagged! AND Infomercial war with MAW...

First things first, I was tagged by Jamie Owens in this blog/survey thingy, and I have never done one of these before, so I thought I would play! 

8 Things I'm Looking Forward To:

1. knowing where we will be moving to next (and all that comes with that)
2. Teal, Mai and Beth coming to visit!
3. Mom and Dad coming to visit!
4. Lauren, Brittany and Drake coming to visit!
5. Andrea and Justin coming to visit!
6. Melissa and Mason finally coming back to HI
7. going to Kauai
8. a great upcoming year of FRG stuff

8 Things I Did Yesterday:

1. got a new Navy id
2. bought some USS Louisville caps
3. went to Bible study
4. procrastinated going to the commissary
5. led my first FRG meeting (as president)
6. ate dinner cooked by Z :)
7. watched the Bachelorette (Wes is such a JERK - I'm sad to be from the same Great State)

8. started reading Breaking Dawn (4th Twilight series book)

8 Things I Wish I Could Do:

1. surf
2. have more discipline to work out twice a day
3. fly to the mainland whenever I wanted
4. lose 20 pounds
5. be a better cook
6. start my own company/store
7. know a lot more about fabric and sewing
8. take more photography classes

8 Shows I enjoy:

1. Grey's 
2. How I Met Your Mother
3. So You Think You Can Dance
4. The Bachelorette/Bachelor 
5. Army Wives
6. Gossip Girl
7. American Idol
8. Mad Men

8 Friends I'm Tagging:

1. MAW

2. Beth

3. Kate

4. Jessica

5. Ellen

6. Melanie

7. Brett

8. I need more friends to blog!

And now, Mary Alice recently posted a funny infomercial on her blog, so I would like to also post one that makes me laugh EVERY TIME I SEE IT! 

BUMPITS

Rock a pony!

Enjoy! 

Me ke aloha,

RAWE

Happy 4th of July!!

I hope everyone had a fantastic Independence Day! 

Zac was finally feeling back to normal on Saturday (after a bout with an unknown illness that kept him out of commission for 5 days!), so we ventured out of the house to Target and then to celebrate the holiday - my favorite! After picking up some last minute ingredients for a side dish and cupcakes, Zac and I cooked and went over to Steve and Marisol's house for dinner. We had spinach dip, dogs, burgers, party potatoes (because a party isn't a party with out party potatoes!), watermelon, potato salad, flag cake and red/white/blue cupcakes!

Zac, Steve, Marisol and I later walked down to Ala Moana park for the City of Honolulu fireworks show. It was fabulous! They had some new shapes I had never seen before - planet looking orbs, happy faces and peace signs. This particular show has been rated one of the top 10 in the nation for several years. It definitely did impress. I managed to capture the finale on my camera, so CLICK HERE to see it! On the walk back to the house, we walked along the pier and saw the biggest fish I have ever seen! A guy had caught a 10 foot, 585 lb marlin earlier that day. CLICK HERE to see! And for the rest of the pics from the night, CLICK HERE.

Happy birthday, America! Don't forget to thank all of our service men and women. :)

Me ke aloha, 

RAWE

BIg Island Trip!

This past weekend Zac and I made our first island hopping trip! Thursday we flew in to Kona on the Big Island. After picking up our rental car (and upgrading for a convertible!), we headed to our hotel to drop off our bags.

From our hotel, the Royal Kona Resort, we drove north, up the west coast to Hapuna State Beach. This is the Big Island's longest "white" sand beach. While the beach was nice, it really didn't compare to some of Oahu's beautiful beaches. From there we drove south a little to see some Hawaiian petroglyphs. On the way we stopped for some sushi for lunch, and that is when I read the news about MJ on Twitter (something I will probably always remember). Sad. The hike out to view the thousands of petroglyphs made me VERY thankful for the development of sturdy shoes. Even though I was only in flip flops, I was so glad I wasn't barefoot! 

From there we drove back to Kona and toured the Kona Brewery! We learned that all of Kona's bottled beer is made and bottled on the mainland, but all of the kegs that are sold in Hawaii are produced there. Widmer Bros. bottles and produces the beer for the Western - Midwest US, and Redhook bottles and produces the beer for the Eastern US. :) (Ahhh...our dear sweet Redhook that was near our home in NH.) After the short tour we tasted a few beers, then had an early dinner and sampled some other beers that we didn't have on the tour. Our favorite Kona Beer is the Wailua Wheat Ale.

After dinner we went back to the hotel to watch the sunset and swim. We turned in early that night in order to get up early the next morning and head out for a day of hiking to the green sand beach! The next morning we woke up, grabbed breakfast and drove to the southern-most point of the island. After finally finding the place where tourists park to hike out to the green sand beach, we started out on our long hike. After about three miles of hiking, we finally arrived at the green sand beach! What a strange color! Papakolea's green sand comes from the high concentration of olivine that is extracted by the water from the cinder. 

Here Zac and I had a picnic lunch and Zac played in the really powerful waves. Luckily, on the

 hike back to the car, a very nice local gave us a ride half way. :) Lopaca (which means Robert), went out to the coast to hunt for octopus, however the seas were too strong that day, so he

 decided to head back in and found us on his way. We jumped in the back of his Jeep Wrangler and thanked him for his hospitality. We still had a few hours of daylight left, so we decided to drive a little further to see a black sand beach! Punalu'u beach was really beautiful! The black sand is course and sticks to you. We played around on the beach for a while, drove back up the west coast and stopped at a coffee plantation, tried some coffee, then went to our hotel to shower and find dinner. Our hotel room balcony overlooked the circle drive and the grounds where the hotel puts on a luau. We watched people file in to the luau and enjoyed the music. After showers we walked a couple of blocks down the road to Lulu's for dinner. We were thankful that we weren't outside at the luau when rain started pouring down during dinner. After dinner we both fell asleep early (again). 

Saturday morning we got up early again and started driving up the west coast and around the north side of the island, back down the east side of the island to Akaka Falls. There we saw a beautiful huge waterfall. We drove around Hilo for a while afterwards, and then entered Volcanoes National Park! There we went to the visitor's center, saw their little movie, then drove over to the Jaggar Museum to view the crater of Kilauea. 

From here we drove down to the Makaopuhi Crater. Here we hiked the Kilauea Iki Trail around the rim of Makaopuhi Crater, down through the crater, and back up. We went

 from beautiful rainforest, down through the area that used to house hot lava and back up the steep side of the crater. This eruption happened in 1959 and produced the tallest recorded volcanic fountain. From the Iki trail we crossed the road to the Thurston Lava tube. The lava formed this natural tunnel.

We continued driving down the Chain of Craters Road, stopped to take a few pictures, and stopped at the end of the road, where lava had destroyed the rest of the road. We hiked over the lava, took a few more pictures, saw the Holei Sea Arch, and drove back up the Chain of Craters road to exit the park. We went all the way around the Kilauea area to the other side of the volcano. We parked at the end of a county road, and hiked out to the area that had been blocked off for live public viewing of the current lava flow into the ocean. We sat out on the hardened lava, waited until the sun went down and watched nature's free fireworks show! I kept wishing that we could get closer to the lava (we were about a mile away)! It was beautiful, and something I am really glad we took the time to do. On the 3 hour drive back to Kona, we stopped at a Subway for dinner. There I sang along to some Michael Jackson tunes with the sandwich artists. We then finished the long drive back to Kona. 

Sunday morning was the Kona Marathon. Zac and I slept in, then walked over to the Kona sea wall for brunch at Lava Java where we had a delicious meal and watched the last of the marathon runners go by. After brunch we ran some errands and then flew back to Honolulu. 

We had a FABULOUS time on our mini vacation to the Big Island! I loved seeing the drastically different beaches, the petroglyphs and the volcanoes!! CLICK HERE for lots more pictures from our trip!!

Me ke aloha,

RAWE

Amy & Austin

One of my best friends, Miss Amy Barker, is getting married!

March 21st of this year Amy's boyfriend, Austin Richards, proposed! Amongst hundreds of rose petals, after a night of the Houston Rodeo, a dream was realized by one precious young lady who had been dreaming of that day ever since she was a little girl. 

Amy and I met the first day of a math class in college. That day we talked through almost the entire class (and many others after that day!), and immediately began a friendship that has grown stronger by the day. It is so hard to believe that that was almost 8 years ago! Since then we have held hands through the journey of life and have made it through so many fun times, happy times, not so fun times and sad times - TOGETHER. We have cried on each others' shoulders, laughed until we cried, prayed together, eaten a lot of ice cream, had many a mani/pedi, planned our lives, and re-planned our lives when things changed. I remember the day she called to first tell me about Austin, the day she called to tell me that Austin had asked her mom for her permission to marry Amy, the day that she called to tell me that she was engaged (!) and most recently, the day she called to ask me to be her Maid of Honor!! 

I am so honored to be asked to be Amy's MOH, and will definitely do that job to the best of my ability and be there for every possible detail. Just as Amy was there for me on my wedding day, I will be there for hers, every step of the way - every application of lip gloss!

(Image by Neal Hacker of Vim Studio.)

Congratulations, Amy and Austin, and I look forward to celebrating with you soon! CLICK HERE to see their wedding website.

Me ke aloha, 

RAWE

Maunawili Falls - Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all of the dads out there!! And Dad, I love you!

Today Zac and I hiked up to Maunawili Falls with our friend, Alex Baerg. Alex led the way through what ended up being a pretty strenuous hike. The trail was muddy from rain last night and today, so we all slipped several times and were pretty muddy at the end of the hike. At the falls, Zac jumped off of the side into the pool below. 

CLICK HERE for pictures from our hike. And CLICK HERE for the video of Zac jumping! :)

Afterwards we had dinner at Alex's house with a couple of other friends.

What a great weekend. Zac and I are really looking forward to our trip to the Big Island on Thursday!

Me ke aloha, 

RAWE

Carmichael-Evans Wedding

This weekend I traveled to Breckenridge, Colorado for Lee Carmichael's wedding! Lee and I are both from Pampa, and have been friends since birth. We attended every school together, both went to First United Methodist Church, and were both in many of the same extra-curricular activities. We kept in touch while at college, and she now lives in Denver and works for the Denver Art Museum. Lee is one of the funniest people I have ever met in my entire life, and I am truly blessed to have been able to call her such a good friend all of our lives!

Wed. night I flew overnight (without sleep thanks to some UNhappy toddlers who were screaming), and arrived in Denver at 8 a.m. I wasn't able to check in to my hotel room until 11 a.m., so I perused the local Super Target and had a delicious Sonic lunch to kill time. That afternoon I took naps and watched tv, and took a couple more naps, to rest up for the big weekend. Fri. morning I met Mom, Dad, Janie and Becky at the airport for the weekend of fun. We made a fabric stop in Aurora and then made our way through the mountains to Breckenridge! 

In Breckenridge we shopped their cute shops and spent time with family and friends. I loved being in the cool mountains - the weather was absolutely gorgeous. (Some of the mountain tops were even still covered in snow!) I was able to see and catch up with sooo many friends, and had such a great time doing so. I didn't want the weekend to end! 

CLICK HERE for all of the pictures that Mom and I took throughout the weekend.

Congratulations, Lee and Will - Mr. and Mrs. Evans! 

Me ke aloha,

RAWE