Home From Paradise

AHHH!! We are home!

Well rested and back to business as usual. I have been home for a few days now - just trying to play catch up. It takes me awhile to upload pictures so I needed a span of time to be able to sit down to do so. I will probably need to do several blogposts about our trip so bear with me!

I came home with the beginnings of a nice tan. I am kicking myself for not going to the tanning beds before my trip, because even though I slathered myself with sunscreen every day, I still managed to get a terrible burn across my upper body. I love to have the color on my skin again though!

I have always enjoyed laying out in the sun with a good book.

I managed to read two amazing books while I was there! It was heavenly to be able to sit and relax and read. I don't often get the opportunity and it felt great!

I have a wonderful book to recommend to you. I read about this book from another blogger.

"These Is My Words: The Diary Of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901"

Written by Nancy Turner. All I can say is FANTASTIC! I loved it so much that when I finished it I ran out and purchased the second book as soon as I finished the first one. This is the first novel that Nancy has written and I will definitely be reading everything else that she writes.You will find yourself being pulled into the story and you will not be able to put it down! It took me a while to get into it because this book is written like a diary (great for those of us who love to read blogs -right?) The character - Sarah hasn't attended school but loves to read, so as the story evolves and she educates herself through the books that she reads, you will find her diary entries easier to understand. This book is based on the life of Nancy's aunt I believe. I hope that you will read this - and if you do - let me know what you think!

We stayed at our timeshare in Hawaii for the first time and it was so nice that I thought I would show you some pictures of it. This picture is of one of the pools. Behind the pool you are looking at a beautiful Lagoon and behind the Lagoon is the ocean. I was having a hard time sleeping on this vacation - what with the time difference and the fact that I was trying to soak up every possible moment in this beautiful paradise setting. I would find myself getting up at 3:00 a.m! I had to force myself to stay in bed til 4:00! (In MY time zone - it was really 10:00am - so I told myself I was actually sleeping IN!) It was great to sit out on the deck, drink my coffee and watch the sunrise every morning. I would go and work out in their wonderful fitness center, and then stroll along the beach before it was too overrun with people. It was so quiet and peaceful! Oh - I can't tell you how much I needed this!


This is another view of the Lagoon.

This is our beautiful Timeshare Condo.


Kitchen Views


Dining Room

Our beautiful bedroom - oh! The bed was SO comfortable! I never did try out my soaker tub though! The bathroom was through the door that you see by the tub.

We really enjoyed it here. We went to the commissary and stocked up on groceries so that we could eat in most of the time. It cut down on costs considerably and my daughter appreciated some homecooking which she hasn't had in awhile! One of her best friends from high school was able to fly out to be with us this week and it was so much fun to be able to cook for a houseful of people again! It was very therapeutic to be able to talk and laugh while preparing meals - Oh how I miss that!

We did so many fun things on this trip. Because our daughter lives here, and loves to exlore the island, she was able to take us on hikes to find treasures that not many people get the chance to see. We would take off in the early morning and be done by the afternoon which left us time to spend the rest of the day by the pool.

We hiked to a location that had a beautiful hidden waterfall. It took us an hour to hike there and an hour to return. It was quite a hike!! I felt that I got quite a workout everyday on this trip!

I wanted my husband to take a picture of the trails that we had to climb. It looks like I am running in this picture, but actually I am just trying to walk up the huge stair length! I am 5'3" tall - so my legs were having to stretch to climb up each stair tread. It was quite a workout for my poor legs. On the way back we had to cross several rivers and my legs were trembling as I tried to jump from rock to rock.

This is the beautiful sight that we walked so far to see - the picture doesn't do it justice. It was so beautiful! My hubby and daughter decided to take a dip - I was just happy to take the pictures. After hearing the girly screams that came out of their mouths when they went in, there was no way I was getting in there! :-)

They had lots of fun swimming after our long hike!

We spent one day at Hanaumu Bay which is a VERY popular place in Oahu. My hubby, our daughter and her boyfriend and my daughter's friend went snorkeling and I enjoyed myself reading on the beach. They were able to see lots of beautiful fish and sea turtles. My daughter's boyfriend picked up an octopus which let off a stream of ink as he let it go.

Isn't the water magnificent? I love the breathtaking blues!

Here is a picture of my Hubby and me - don't we look relaxed?

In my next post I will tell you all about this beautiful girl. This is a picture of me and the new graduate. The whole reason for our trip to Hawaii! I had to crop my hubby out of this picture. It wasn't a very flattering shot of him - he BARELY tolerates me putting pictures of him up on my blog as it is! I love this picture of the two of us though.

"S" graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Marine Biology - Phi Betta Kappa. We are so proud of her! She managed to do it in four years which I hear is usually VERY difficult to achieve. She worked so hard during her four years in Hawaii. She took some very challenging courses while working two jobs - we are so very proud of her!!

I will dedicate my next post to showing you her big day and some of her life that she has been able to enjoy here while in Hawaii.

Unitl then - it's good to be back!

Blessings to you,

Kymber