It's been a long time since I have posted any updates, and I apologize for that. Jim and I have both been swamped at work, and there hasn't been much to post. As you know from the last few posts, my job has been particularly eventful. Fortunately, every situation has ended well and I have learned a lot.
Three months ago, Jim and I were comparing our calendars through September and we realized we are REALLY busy. How busy? Let's take July, for example. Not only is it my least favorite month (see previous years' posts), but this one in particular requires Jim to be out of town all except five days. Which means I will see my husband for five days in the whole month of July. If you remember my posts from Jim's trip in January, you'll know I'm not looking forward to it!
Every year since we've been together we have taken a big trip in the summer-time. Jim took me to Lake Chelan right after we started dating, and last year we went to Florida and the Oregon Coast. I'm not sure where the idea for this year's vacation began, but somehow we ended up at our Hawaii trip. Jim's been to Hawaii twice before, but I have never been and have always wanted to go. I'm certain we looked at our busy schedules, looked at our bank account, realized we have no kids and no mortgage currently, and decided to go to Hawaii. After all, why not?
We planned a trip to Hawaii for nine days. We chose to go to the island of O'ahu, even though Jim had already been there twice, because it is the island with the most activities and Jim already knew what to do and what to avoid.
June is a big month for us. We began dating four years ago in June. Both mine and my mother-in-law's birthdays are in June. Jim and I scheduled our Hawaii trip to coincide with both the anniversary of when we began dating and my birthday, and we found creative ways to celebrate those occasions there.
Our vacation in Hawaii was a wonderful, relaxing time for us. We enjoyed the beautiful weather and scenery, experienced many things, and ate delicious food. Most of all, we LOVED having nine uninterrupted days with each other, something Jim and I have not done since our honeymoon. This trip reminded us how important that time together is. With our busy schedules, we've allowed our marriage to take the back burner often, and this vacation confirmed to us the importance of taking time for just us, a tradition we plan to continue for the rest of our marriage.
I have to admit I was not a good photographer on this trip, and I apologize if you are disappointed. Jim and I were too busy enjoying each other and Hawaii apparently! Here are a few pictures from our trip, plus one day in May.
This first picture is us at Ryan and Melany's gorgeous (and HOT!) wedding on May 30.
Here starts our pictures from Hawaii! We stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village at Waikiki. This is a picture of the tower we stayed in, the famous "Rainbow Tower". The mural on the side is the world's largest mural coming in at 226 feet tall and using over 8,000 hand-painted tiles.
This was the view from our room. When we arrived, we found out the room we had booked was unavailable, so they upgraded us to this "Deluxe Ocean view" room.
Here's us on the beach, right outside our hotel!
Jim LOVES the ocean! The next picture I snapped is of a wedding on the beach. We learned that the Hilton averages 2-3 weddings a day.
Here are some pictures from Pearl Harbor. This first picture is of an aircraft carrier docked in the harbor. 
Here's the memorial, which lays directly over the sunken USS Arizona.
Here is one of the gun turrets of the USS Arizona.
The USS Arizona was sunk with an estimated 150,000 tons of oil on board, and today they believe there is still 40,000 tons of oil on the ship. It is constantly slowly leaking out. The Navy has been ordered to deal with the oil issue, but refuses to touch the ship. The locals say the oil is the blood of the 1,500 who died when the USS Arizona sank.
This is us in front of the old courthouse building in Honolulu. The statue in front is of King Kamehameha the Great, who conquered and unified each of the Hawaiian islands. His birthday is celebrated every year in June across each of the Hawaiian islands. We were able to see a parade through Waikiki in his honor on June 13.
This is us in front of our new house! (OK, so maybe not... it's actually the last and only royal palace in the United States)
That night we took a sunset dinner cruise. We had such a great time!
This is a view of the sunset we saw on the cruise. I have to admit, Hawaiian sunsets are nice but do not hold a candle to Tri-City sunsets!
Look Ron Burgundy, we found diversity! (Note: this will only make sense to you if you've watched Anchorman)
Here is a picture from the Luau we went to. The entertainment was good, but the food was awful.
We took a day and went to the North Shore. On our way, we stopped at the Dole Plantation for some Pineapple ice cream!
Do you recognize these pineapples?
That's it for now! We have ~360 pictures from Hawaii that I am still trying to wade through while working and catching up at home. I will get "Hawaii Part 2" up soon!
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