Cinderella

A lot can happen in one day. Two big things:

We are no longer homeless and I got a job. Pretty big accomplishments for our first week here. Imagine what we can do till the end of the year.

Today has been a cleaning and unpacking kind of day for muah. And these are two things that Ryan and i have gotten good at considering all the moving we do. Get this: in the 2 1/2 years we've been married we've lived in 5 different places. We are insane I know. I, personally, like moving to different places. I know one day we will have to do the whole settling down thing and start a family, but right now is not one day, it is today and today is moving day. Now if i can only get this process of cleaning to speed up a little bit... Does anyone know where I can buy these?

Brown but homeless

Ryan and I are officially the only tan people in Idaho, at least in Rexburg, Idaho. And I don't think we're even THAT dark. Ryan of course, having that Native American blood in him, is naturally darker than I am. I'm hoping this color I have will last me until the weather warms up a bit.

We are still looking for a place to call home. Our lovely aunt and uncle have been kind to let us stay at their place in the mean time. It looks like we are living out of our car though considering all of our luggage is piled in the back seats. My brush is buried somewhere in there and my confession to you is that I haven't brushed my hair in 5 days. Thanks to Dove conditioner and my fingers, my hair is fit for public viewing. I guess shaving it is always an option...

Until things get settled, I will stay busy putting lotion on my overly dry skin. What a wonderful welcoming gift. It's good to be back.

Aloha Oe

Our final Hawaiian Aloha post...and retiring our blog header too. :( sad day. Moment of silence please...

We had our last week in Kailua with people we have come to know and love which has made me super emotional.

I had joined a martial arts class in January and from the first time they took Ryan and I out, they made it very clear we were now part of their family. It is such a gift how fast you can become so close with people in such a short amount of time. They wanted to take us (and my parents who were in town) out before we left. We had our usual night out, dinner at Wailanas and dancing at Jimmy Buffets. Even though it was our usual night routine, this time was very special.

My teacher, Janice, and I. She gave my my flower head piece called a haku.

Our cake! If you can't tell it says Liz & Ryan Aloha Ken-Ka-Kung Fu Club

We ended our dinner with the guava cake they bought. Guava cakes aren't popular on the mainland but pretty big in Hawaii. Delicious.

We headed over to Jimmy Buffets and danced danced danced before saying our good-byes. Ryan and I knew them for 3 months but like I said, we became family early on and we will miss them dearly!

Sunday was also very special too. Ryan and I were not able to meet everyone in our ward because we were asked to be permanent subs in Primary. However, we were surprised that our last Sunday after sacrament, the bishop asked us to come up front so everyone could sing us Aloha 'Oe. It's a tradition in Hawaii that when someone is moving out of the ward, they go up on the last sunday for everyone to sing to them. At the end of the song, everyone can come up and give them leis and say their good-byes.

We had no idea they would even know it was our last Sunday and we were only in the ward for 4 months. I hate getting up in front of crowds, but it was such an amazing feeling having everyone smiling and singing to you. They came up and many had made us leis. I don't think we've ever been in such a loving ward. They were eiher A.) going to miss us or B.) they were happy to see us leave.  

Our last night, a wonderful friend of ours, Marilyn, came over with 2 of her sons, Landon and Parker. When we were evacuated with the tsunami warning, Marilyn took us in and let her stay at her house on the marine base. We were able to get to know her and her family really well that night. :)

When they sat in front of us during sacrament, Ryan would make faces Landon. Landon would hurry and tap his mom's shoulder to show her what this creepy guy was doing. But as soon as Marilyn would turn around, Ryan would act casual. Landon is smart though. He told his mom to pull out a mirror and keep an eye on him. He is hilarious. Parker, her other son, is going to famous some day. He's 14 years old but plays the guitar and sings like no other. They all stopped by to say good-bye to us and Parker brought his guitar and equipment to play a song for us. We appreciate their love and everything they helped us out with during our stay.

I have to say the hardest part about leaving Hawaii was leaving Rita. You don't have to be around her all the time to see how witty and clever she really is. She always had the best one-liners that would get us laughing so hard. Some nights, after I got her ready for bed, i would sit on the edge of the bed and we would sing her favorite song, Over the Rainbow. So, my last night there, that's exactly what we did. We sang Over the Rainbow and You Are My Sunshine.

I was holding back the waterworks as I explained Ryan and I were leaving the next morning. She said I did a wonderful job, "Thanks Rita! You really think so?" and she replied back, "Well, that's what everyone says so I guess I'll believe them."

It's comments like that I am going to miss. We love you Rita!

Catch up- Part I

I have not been on in quite awhile. So here I am playing catch-up. Ryan and I have been SUPER SUPER busy. We had our last week in Hawaii and my parents came down to visit. Then we flew back to Arizona where we stayed a few days and FINALLY we have made it back up to sweet Rexburg, Idaho. I wanted to share the last week we had in Hawaii since it was quite eventful with my parents and saying good-bye to friends.

We took them to see the blow hole which you can only imagine how many jokes my dad made about that.

We went to Pearl Harbor and saw the Arizona. Here Ryan is making his way through one of the submarines. He would never have done so well living on one of those.

One of the best views on the island don't you think????



After our strenuous hike, we HAD to cool off and relax. I'll never quite understand why Waimanalo beach is not popular, but the water is so blue blue BLUE and it's not crowded. PERFECT for muah.

We went to check out one of the botanical gardens there... it started out very beautiful until my dad and I were eaten alive by mosquitoes. Why do they have to attack me? I wish my blood didn't taste so good to them. Ugh.

I know you aren't used to seeing Ryan and I pose like this in pictures. It's just not us. BUT, there was a heart carved on the tree behind us and it was just so appropriate for the occassion. Plus, if you think this is funny, we had my parents pose the same too. I was just nice enough not to post it.

Polynesian Cultural Center

Random Act of Kindness... We went out to breakfast (Cinnamon's, which is a must!) and my dad was wearing a lei that was given to him from the day before. A lady saw that he had a lei and thought we were celebrating a special occasion so she had the waitress bring over another lei she bought for him (the red fancy one). It was so random but so sweet. We told her my parents were visiting for the first time. It's nice they were able to witness first hand the hawaiian aloha.

Last day with the folks we stopped by Lanikai beach, which is in the top beaches in the world! And for a little FYI on this picture, it was super windy which is why my dad's shirt makes him look like he has a big belly and i'm taming my wild hair. Oh, and its hard to picture what our actual heights are considering we are all standing on an incline. My dad was at the bottom and Ryan on the top. :)

We had a great last week with the folks. I've got one more posting with our good-byes to friends coming up soon. THEN you get to see even more exciting posts featuring: US LIVING IN REXBURG!!! I guess that means our blog won't be called hawaiian aloha anymore. Any suggestions for the new name?

Gunstock Ranch

We checked off another "to-do" from our list. Rita's son owns a ranch up on the north shore called Gunstock Ranch and he offered to take us out on a ride before we left.

Now I know I have been on a horse trail ride before when I was super young; I don't remember but I have pictures of me on a horse. The second time was when Ryan and I were dating. I went out to his ranch and he gave me a little ride on one of his horses, but I was too uncomfortable and uneasy to really enjoy the ride.

This ride started out uneasy too. I could tell I was going to have trouble the moment I got on. Everyone else was on their horse and their horses were sitting there well-behaved. Mine? Not even, he kept walking away from the group to go eat and I tried to get him to stop eating but it just wasn't happening. It was a joke on the ride because he continuously stopped to snack along the way. Greg told me he gave me that horse because he has personality and thought I could handle it.... boy was he wrong.

Buster brought his head up for the picture but you can still see the food in his mouth he just got done grabbing.

The scenary was soo beautiful and green with amazing views of La'ie. I also had a good view of the trees on the ride up. Sadly, I would forget that I can stir him and would end up running into branches. I figured he would just know that I would hit them but it doesn't work that way. Oh Buster.... (Yes, my horses name was Buster! Anyone watch Arrested Development?)

I know it's not just me who thinks Ryan looks like a natural. Let's just say this isn't his first time. 

I'm pretty sure those twigs behind his head are the ones that I ran right into.

We made it to the top for the lookout. Ryan had to bring his horse to mine for this picture. Good thing he knows what he's doing otherwise this picture would not have been possible.

Jack

Friday night Ryan and I headed up to Rita's son's ranch for horse back riding. He lives up on the north shore and his family runs a horse back riding business and swimming lessons for locals. Ryan and I pulled up to the house and I saw a guy get out of a van. One glimpse and I knew, Jack Johnson.

He lives up on the north shore and I guess he has some kids that take swim lessons there. I started to tell Ryan, "Ryan that is Jack Johnson!" He thought he looked a little different but I was so sure of it. We casually said hi to him. He asked what we were up to and we told him we were headed for a horse back ride. He told us that he had been bucked off a horse when he was younger and hadn't been on since. We met with our friends and told them that we saw him. At this point he was sitting over by the swing set reading a book to his kids. We were standing there debating whether to go up to him or not. Ryan and I would have died if we hadn't gotten a picture with him.

We went over and asked him and yes it was. Star struck. We asked for his picture and Ryan told him that was listening to his music all day while painting the house. He was super nice and you could tell he was such a humble guy. We felt bad bothering him but he was very nice about it and let us get a picture with him.

We thanked him and after we had walked away I realized that I wanted to tell him that our wedding song was one of his, Better Together. I wanted to go back and tell him but thought I should be happy with just a picture and leave it at that.

Maybe I will have the opportunity this week... now that I know what days his kids have swim lessons. Ha. One thing we know, we are naming a boy Jack.