Day Three In Maui

The weather forecast called for a 40% chance of rain on our third day in Maui, so Vince and I decided we'd go check out a few places that would still be fun to see even if we ended up getting rained on...

First stop: breakfast from a nearby health-food store. I could eat fruit like this every day!

Coffee time! This funky little shop was across the street from our 

hotel. The barista made us some mean cappuccinos, and invited us to 

come back Monday night for drinks and live music...

Time to explore- we set out for the Maui Tropical Plantation

Our entry point & the plantations's general store

It was very well organized and really beautiful; the old sugar

cane factory equipment was a nice touch- as was the sun!

Some of the things we saw...

 

Along with this HUUUGE spider; I am so glad it didn't 

move when I was trying to take this picture!

I learned that pineapples don't grow on trees

Walking around the plantation was like being in Disneyland;

I was truly amazed by all the different things growing there!

Papaya trees

That was fun- and we didn't get rained on :) Our next destination: Surfing Goat Dairy...

The turnoff from the road

Now this is a driveway!

Here is the information center/tasting area (cheese & truffles)/gift shop

Awww- newbies

These little goats were so funny to watch as they played;

they were each trying to stake their claim to the top of the log hehe

…we had just walked around the corner of the main building 
whenone of the employees came running out of the field carrying this 
little guy! A brand-new one! He needed a little help breathing, 
but then he was good to go :) Pretty cool we were there!

We picked out our own truffles from the gift store and created

a custom goodie box for later… time to hit the road

Makawao is a really cool town in "Upcountry" Maui

…it's kind of like a Hawaiian cowboy community; there

are a lot of ranch-inspired places there, and the scenery is beautiful

V &I were walking around town when he spotted the steeple

of this church- so we went to go check it out. I am glad we did!

Great statue of St. Joseph

Beautiful! This church interior was so unique; it is unlike

any church I have even been in. We wentinside for a few minutes to 

enjoy the tranquility and to give thanks for such a great trip

Makawao definitely runs on "island time" (shops are

open when people feel like working haha), so things were beginning

to wind down by that time of the day. V &I weren't ready to call it a day

just yet, so we set out to Haile Maile General Store to try some of their

legendary mango margaritas… boy was that a good idea :p

Fruity blended heaven in a (big) glass :D

It was awesome relaxing on the porch with our drinks,

watching the passers-by, and observing a little friend in the tree

After our little break, we made our way back to the area

by our hotel and decided on sushi for dinner (hey- we had to save

some room for truffles!). I really enjoyed watching the chef; you could tell 

he had a lot of experience and was passionate about his work

Gotta love fresh local fish

These were the perfect end to an awesome third day!

Day Two In Maui (a.k.a. paradise)

After our stellar first evening in Maui, we were excited to start exploring. First on the agenda: a nice morning walk to a farmers' market down the street for breakfast. Fresh pineapple, some Greek yogurt, and coffee hit the spot; especially since there was a great park right across the street on the beach :)

The market

With our hunger satisfied, we set out for the nearby town of Lahaina to do a little shopping… I needed flip-flops! It was fun checking out some of the shops on the main street, and I found some good flippies that were super comphy. Time for lunch…

Koa's was great- our table was on a porch over the ocean

The food was really good (we had thai lettuce wraps 

with fresh mahi-mahi), our service was great, and so were our drinks ;)

Good day so far! We did a little more exploring in Lahaina, 

and then decided to go on a road trip to Paia for dinner that evening

Made it! Vince showed me the building he used to live in here, we

did a little walking around town, and then it was time for dinner. We

headed to Flatbread Pizza Co (good recommendation by one of

my co-workers). Great atmosphere, fresh food, and good values.

The oven

Cool Hawaiian decor

Live music courtesy of "Brown Chicken Brown Cow String Band."

They were a lot of fun to listen to- kind of a cross between bluegrass 

and country- and we ended up downloading their album later :)

…sampling the indigenous beverages… Kona Brewing Koko Brown- mmm!

Needless to say, Day Two was pretty amazing, and that was just the beginning :)

First Trip To Maui- Day One

Yay! Drumroll please… I went to Maui this month for the first time! Best. Vacation. EVER. I have to admit, I've always kind of thought that Hawaii was overrated… until I went to Maui! What a great trip. I can honestly say it is the most un-stressed I have felt in a long time; the island vibe is addicting :)

We got off the airplane from Alaska and immediately felt fantastic. The island air seems to just cloak you in relaxation and makes you feel so alive and healthy! We got on the shuttle from the terminal, picked up our rental car, and we were off to our hotel.

The drive to the hotel (note: we could see whales in the ocean from the road!)

Made it :)

Oooohhh….

Serene and pretty

Checking out the grounds...

The view from the 7th floor (where we stayed) - beautiful!

Our first walk on the beach- ahh! 

First sunset...

…complete with pina coladas and my new lei :)

Valentine's Day 2014

V & I had to spend Valentine's Day at work this year, but it was still the best Valentine's Day I have had in a long time. It was our 1 year anniversary for dating, and we are still happy (and our work schedules were finally lined-up at the beginning of the year), so it was good all around. Although we didn't get a whole lot of time to see each other, we did have a little gift exchange :)

In addition to a Marshawn Lynch Seahawks jersey (yay!) I

got a new chef's knife that I have been wanting since last year :D

Oh yeah!!! Cuts like a charm :)

My gift to Vince was a commemorative limited edition

poster showing the Hawks as the NFC West Champions…

Go Hawks!!!

Christmas 2013

Well it is March now, so I suppose I'd better get to catching up if I'm going to talk about what is new! As I mentioned in my previous posts, both Vince and I had to work on Christmas, so it was pretty quiet. However, it was really nice in some ways because it made us think more about why the holiday is so wonderful: family and friends. Our friends at work made working much more pleasant, and we had a lot of fun hearing from our families on Christmas Day.

Another bonus was that V got to leave work early (he works nights), so we were able to have dinner together, watch some Christmas movies, and unwrap our presents :)

Our little gift piles in my room

Yay! I got Minnetonkas!

…and some good words of advice!
(Vince got a new tie clip, workout gear, & Seahawks stuff)

Topped it off with a sampling of goodies, and it made

for a pretty good Christmas for being at work :)